50 Shades Found
by imma vampire
Summary: After 18 years of marriage, Ana was sure nothing could shake her relationship with Christian. But when a woman from Christian's past comes into their lives, she brings with her a danger that threatens Ana's precious family. Can Ana and Christian pull through and overcome obstacles from his past or will this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here I am, after all these years. I'm back to give fanfiction writing a second, or third chance. I hope you enjoy the story. I have no beta so all the mistakes are my own. Disclaimer on profile.**

CHAPTER ONE

I tapped my fingers on my keyboard in frustration. The empty email on my desktop mocked me and I groaned, placing my elbows up on the desk and running my hands through my hair. Why couldn't I concentrate today?

I smiled pathetically to myself. I knew very well why I couldn't concentrate and it all had to do with the fact that I hadn't seen my husband in two days. Well, that wasn't entirely true. We had skyped, as we always did when he left for business, but I hadn't touched him, had had his hands or lips on me in two days and it was driving me mad. He was due back tonight and I cursed Sweden for being so far away.

There was a small beep before Hannah's voice came through the intercom startling me out of my thoughts.

"Ana? You have a visitor."

I looked up and frowned.

"Who is it?" I asked checking the time. I couldn't remember if I was scheduled for any meetings or not.

"A couple of students looking for a quote." She said. It sounded like she was smiling but I couldn't be sure.

"Oh, okay send them in." I said straightening my shirt. Hannah's vagueness caught me off guard but I brushed it off. The door to my office pushed open and I looked up and smiled. It was my children, come to pay me a visit at work.

I stood and moved around the desk, my heart overflowing with happiness at the sight of them.

"Hey guys. This is a surprise." I said taking Teddy into my arms, then Phoebe and last but not least my little Ella. Five years after Phoebe was born, I had gotten pregnant again, and Christian had finally consented using his biological mother's name. We had struggled through so much in those first few years of marriage, facing his demons. It took a long time, but finally he made a break through. He wasn't perfect after that, but he was better, more at peace.

"What are you all doing here?" I asked settling back smiling at them.

"Just stopping by after school." Teddy said shrugging. He swung his keys around his finger easily and I smiled at him. For his 16th birthday, Christian and I had bought him an Audi, top of the line. It was way too much to give to a 16 year old, and Christian and I had fought about that for months before he reasoned that it was the safest car possible. As soon as I saw that angle, I caved. Now Teddy was 17 and still took immaculate care of his car, much to my relief. He was too much like his father not to though.

"How was school?" I asked moving to the plush leather sofas in my office. Memories of the last time I had used these came flooding through my mind. It was last week when Christian had surprised me at work.

I blushed remembering exactly what we had done on the soft leather. The kids, thankfully, didn't notice.

"Boring." Phoebe said sitting next to me. I smiled and stroked her soft red hair. Ella climbed up on my other side and curled into my side. I smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"How about you sweetie?" I asked looking at my youngest. She smiled at me and it struck me how much she looked like Christian. She was only nine years old, but already she was just as striking as her two older siblings.

"Fine. Mrs. Andrews got mad at me because I read ahead again." She said scrunching her nose. I smiled. My little Ella, too smart for her own good. I laughed and kissed the top of her head again.

"Are you and daddy coming home tonight?" Ella asked looking up at me. I smiled at her.

"Of course we are honey. Why wouldn't we?" I asked.

"Because when daddy has been away, you always go away before he comes back." She said pouting. I smiled at her, my sweet, very observant little girl.

"Don't worry sweetie. I'll be there tonight to tuck you into bed. Daddy will be too. I'll make sure of it. I promise." I said hugging her tightly. Satisfied with my words she snuggled back into my side.

"Mom?" Phoebe asked looking at me. I turned to her smiling. "Mommy can you talk to dad when he gets back?" She asked slowly. I eyed her curiously. She only called me mommy when she wanted something.

"What about Hon?" I asked trying to conceal my smile. I had a feeling this was either about boys or security. She blushed only lightly and looked at Teddy who was sitting back easily, watching her with an amused expression.

"Tony Silverman asked me out today and I really really want to go out with him." She said rushed. "He's so cute and all the girls like him and he asked me out!" She explained. I smiled at her.

"Honey that's great, but you know no dating until you are 16." I said pulling an arm around her.

"But that's not fair! All my friends are allowed to date!" She wailed. "Can't you convince dad that I'm mature enough?" She cried.

"Honey, this isn't just your father's rule." I said smiling at her. She sighed.

"I wish I was 16." She grumbled crossing her arms across her chest. I smiled.

"You will be soon enough baby girl." I promised her. I guess she wasn't terribly mad at me because she did let me hold her to my side, which I was grateful for.

We sat cuddled on the sofa another few minutes before my blackberry started ringing and Hannah came in to let me know I had a meeting in twenty minutes. I looked at the clock. It was only 3:10. I sighed wishing the day was over and I could go home with my kids.

"Alright kids, I have to get back to work." I said softly. Ella wrapped her hands around me tighter.

"I don't want to leave mommy." She said into my side. I smiled at her.

"I know sweetie, but I'll see you in a few hours okay?" I asked looking down at her. She nodded, her big blue eyes sad. I smiled at her and kissed her forehead. We all stood and I hugged Phoebe and then Teddy. "Thanks for stopping by. It made my day." I said smiling at them. They all smiled back at me.

"We'll see you at home." Teddy said taking Ella's hand in his. He was so much like his father, down to even his overbearing protectiveness of his sisters. It was sweet most of the time, though I could see Phoebe was starting to get frustrated with it. Maybe one day she'd appreciate it. I hoped that was true. I didn't want her to resent her brother at all.

I thought of how I had hated the security when I first met Christian. Now I hardly minded. It suddenly made much more sense after we had had kids.

I walked with the kids out to the lobby where Frank Rhodes stood with Sawyer. We'd met Frank shortly after Teddy was born. Taylor had recommended him to us and we'd hired him to be Teddy's security detail once he started school. He'd been with us ever since and had even brought on two new additions to his team for Phoebe and Ella. I smiled at him as we approached and he gave me a tight smile.

"Hello Frank." I said in greeting. "Luke."

Sawyer smiled back at me with less reservation. He'd been my security for years now and we had finally gotten past the stiffness and formality. Now he felt comfortable to call me Ana, so long as Christian wasn't around of course. Christian still got wildly jealous over the simplest things, though I'd mostly learned to deal with that jealousy.

"Hello Mrs. Grey." Frank and Luke responded.

"The kids are heading home." I said to Frank. He nodded. "Take care of my babies Frank." I said smiling at him. He cracked half a smile and nodded. "Okay you three, I'll see you when I get home." I said hugging them again. They all nodded and left with Frank. I turned to Luke who was waiting just on the fringe, like always. I nodded for him to follow me upstairs and he fell into step with me.

"Have you heard from Taylor?" I asked quietly. He nodded.

"He and Mr. Grey should be on the plane back from Stockholm now." He informed me. I nodded and bit my lip. God I missed Christian. He'd only been gone a few days, on a business meeting he absolutely had to go on, but being away from his was retched. I couldn't wait for him to get back home.

"Ana?" Luke said quietly. I looked up at him, shaking my thoughts away. He was holding the elevator doors open for me on the top floor. I didn't even remember getting in the elevator.

"Thanks Luke." I said stepping past him. He nodded and followed me inside. I glanced at my watch. "I have to get to a meeting." I said sighing. He nodded.

"Alright Ana, I'll see you later." He said stepping behind me. I nodded and rushed on toward the conference room. Just one more meeting then I could go home.

The house was abuzz when I got home that evening. Gail was running about making sure things were immaculate. There were of course, because she was amazing at her job.

"Gail what's going on?" I asked surprised. Gail looked up and smiled at me.

"Oh hello Ana. How was your day?" She asked giving me a brief smile. I shrugged.

"Fine. Is everything alright?" I asked. She nodded.

"Oh it's fine dear. I suppose I'm just anxious. Jason is coming home today and Sofie called me to tell me she wanted to stop by and tell him that she's pregnant. She's been trying to tell him for weeks now, but it's been put off and now the baby shower is around the corner and she has to tell him." Gail said exhaustedly. I smiled gently at her. Gail and Taylor had gotten married about ten years ago. Sofie, who had practically grown up here through her teen years, was very close to Gail, and even me. She had confided in me about being pregnant ages ago, right after she had told Gail, but she was too nervous to break it to her father. I couldn't blame her. Taylor was a sweet man, really he was, but he was almost as overprotective with Sofie as Christian was with me. I could understand her hesitance.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked Gail. She shook her head smiling at me.

"No dear, thank you though. I'm sure you've got enough to think about with Mr. Grey coming home." She said smiling at me. I grinned.

"Yes, I've missed him terribly." I admitted. "Are the children around?" I asked. Gail nodded.

"Ella is in the library and Phoebe is with her tutor. Last I saw Teddy he was in the music room." She said. I smiled at her.

"Thanks Gail." I said going to put my suitcase down and find my kids.

"No, no Miss Phoebe. Wrong tense. We are speaking in the present, not the past!" I looked in the study where Phoebe was sitting with her French tutor, Amelia. Following in Grace's footsteps, we'd made sure that all the kids were learning a language. Teddy, who was incredibly proficient, had mastered French and had moved on to German three years ago. Now he was almost completely fluent in both languages. Phoebe had a knack for languages, but they just didn't interest her yet which was holding her back, though when she spoke French I thought it sounded beautiful.

Ella, my sweet little Ella, had asked to learn Chinese. No body I knew spoke Chinese, but as soon as she wanted to learn it, Christian had flown in the best tutors, straight from China. Only the best for his little girl.

"I'm trying." Phoebe whined. "Can't we take a break?" She pleaded. Her tutor glared at her.

"In French." She requested. I smiled and continued on.

Teddy was at the end of the hall, in the room that had a perfect view of Seattle. Christian had set up a piano facing it. I smiled to myself as I watched Teddy playing flawlessly, just like his father.

With every passing day, the more I see Christian in him. Not just his looks, which are almost exactly Christian's apart from his eyes, he got his eyes from me. No I could see it in his walk, in the way he handled people, with clear calm confidence. He was tenderer than Christian was with people, but apart from that, they could be twins.

I thought of Teddy moving out next year, hopefully headed for Harvard. He wanted to go and I was praying he saw it through. The thought of him leaving though saddened me greatly. My baby. My first child.

Moving away from the room silently, I went out in search for my youngest.

Ella was siting in the library, her knees folded to her chest as she sat and read. I smiled at my little angel. She was so quiet and reserved, unlike her older sister. She had a way about her. My mom once called her an old soul, which I had found quite fitting.

Ella looked up then from her book and smiled at me. "Hi mommy." She said jumping up from her chair and running over to hug me. I held her in my arms, keeping her close to me.

"Hi honey." I whispered.

"Do you want to come read with me?" She asked looking up at me. I smiled. I couldn't deny those soft blue eyes anything.

"Of course." I whispered moving into the room. We sat on one of the long soft leather sofas and I grabbed the book that was sitting nearby. Ella climbed into my lap with her own book and snuggled into my chest.

We sat there a long while, reading together.

"This is possibly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Christian's voice drew my attention immediately from my book and both Ella and I looked up. There he was, my Fifty, dressed in a deliciously fitted dark gray suit with a slim light grey tie.

"Daddy!" Ella screamed, jumping up off my lap and running to him. He scooped her up and held her to his chest.

"Hello my precious." He breathed into her hair. She smiled at him.

"Daddy I don't like when you leave. It makes mommy very sad." Ella whispered, rubbing her hand against his cheek. He smiled at her.

"It makes me very sad too." He confided. Ella smiled at him. "I left a gift for you with Mrs. Taylor. Why don't you go see what it is." He whispered. Ella nodded and kissed his cheek before hopping out of his arms and dashing away. Christian turned his attention to me and I smiled at him, raising from the couch.

"Hello Mr. Grey, have a good trip?" I asked quietly.

"I suppose it was productive in the business sense, however Mrs. Grey I did not enjoy one moment of it." He said watching me walk over to him. I smiled up at him as I got nearer.

"Even though it was in beautiful Stockholm?" I asked quietly.

"It could have been Heaven and it still would have been miserable." He whispered, pulling me to him when I was close enough. My body sang at his contact. My god I missed this man. I smiled at him.

"Mr. Grey, are you trying to flatter me?" I asked coyly. He smiled down at me.

"No Mrs. Grey, just being honest with the woman who means the most to me in the world."

I swooned, just a little bit and reached up to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him.

"Mr. Grey I'm glad you're home." I whispered against his lips. He smiled, a gentle shy smile.

"Mrs. Grey I never get tired of hearing that." He confides. "Let's go away tonight. I've missed you so much baby." He said kissing my jaw. I tilted my head and sighed as he gently assaulted my neck with his very skilled lips.

"We can't." I moaned. "I promised Ella we would be here to tuck her into bed tonight." I whispered.

"Then we will leave once she's asleep." He insisted. I sighed.

"Christian, we need to be here tonight. We'll go away this weekend okay?" I asked pulling away from him enough to see his face. He sighed and leaned his forehead against mine.

"As you wish Mrs. Grey." He said kissing me again. I smiled.

"Come on, let's go check on the kids." I said stepping mostly out of his embrace. He kept his arm around my waist and nodded, leading me back to the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

**The irony of 50 Shades fanfiction is certainly not lost on me... however, use what you can, right? :)**

CHAPTER TWO

The next morning when I got to work, my body was deliciously sore and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Though our reunion last night hadn't been as much as Christian and I were hoping for, it was still quite rigorous and exhausting. I'd almost slept through my alarm the next morning and when I had finally dragged myself out of bed; Christian had cornered me in the shower. It had been a blissful morning.

Now though, I was running late to work, but even my usual need for punctuality was all right with my excuses.

"Good morning." I sang to everyone I passed through the office. Hannah looked up at me from her desk and smiled.

"Mr. Grey made it back safely?" She asked smiling. I blushed and nodded taking the cup of tea she held out to me.

"Yes he did. Thank you." I said grinning. "When is my first appointment today?" I asked.

"Ten with Mrs. Sanders." Hannah said glancing at the computer. I nodded.

"Thanks Hannah." I said slipping into my office and sipping the tea. I headed to my desk and flicked on the computer. Immediately it pinged, telling me a I had an email.

* * *

**From: **Christian Grey

**Subject**: Lunch

**Date**: May 6, 2028 9:33 AM

**To**: Anastasia Grey

My Dearest Mrs. Grey,

I hope you had a good morning. I certainly did.

Would you be available for lunch today with your stuffy old husband?

Christian Grey

CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.

* * *

I smiled to myself as I read his email.

* * *

**From: **Anastasia Grey

**Subject**: Too Exhausted To Eat

**Date**: May 6, 2028 9:36 AM

**To**: Anastasia Grey

My Dearest Mr. Grey,

My morning is not yet nearly over. Though I can tell you with certainty, my morning started perfectly.

I may have to decline your offer for lunch as I have a husband who is much too Athletic for me and I may have to get in an emergency session with my personal trainer.

Anastasia Grey

Very sore CEO, Grey Publishing

* * *

I smiled and turned to my growing inbox. A ping alerted me of another email.

* * *

**From: **Christian Grey

**Subject**: I Wasn't Talking About Food

**Date**: May 6, 2028 9:38 AM

**To**: Anastasia Grey

Mrs. Grey,

I believe that your athletic husband is only in as good physical shape as he is to keep up with you.

Come have lunch with me and we can work out together. ;)

Christian Grey

Desperate to see his wife CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.

* * *

I laughed despite myself and responded.

* * *

**From: **Anastasia Grey

**Subject**: You Are Insatiable

**Date**: May 6, 2028 9:40 AM

**To**: Anastasia Grey

Mr. Grey,

Are you flirting with me?

Anastasia Grey

Desperate to see her husband CEO, Grey Publishing

* * *

His response was immediate.

* * *

**From: **Christian Grey

**Subject**: We Both Are Insatiable

**Date**: May 6, 2028 9:41 AM

**To**: Anastasia Grey

Mrs. Grey,

Yes.

Please skip the trainer. I've very much missed you.

Christian Grey

Sappy CEO, Grey Enterprises Holdings Inc.

* * *

My smile threatened to break my face in half. I laughed and sent him a quick response.

* * *

**From: **Anastasia Grey

**Subject**: Fair Point, Well Made

**Date**: May 6, 2028 9:43 AM

**To**: Anastasia Grey

Mr. Grey,

Of course I'll have lunch with you. How about I meet you at your office and we can go from there? 12?

Now stop pestering me so I can get work done.

I love you.

Anastasia Grey

Very much in love CEO, Grey Publishing

* * *

I shut down my email so I couldn't get farther distracted. Hannah knocked on my door and I looked up at her.

"Ana, you have a meeting in a few minutes." She reminded me. I nodded standing from my desk.

"Right, thanks Hannah."

The morning passed slowly, much to my aggravation, and by the time 11:40 came around I practically ran out of the office, Sawyer right on my heals.

We headed down to the lobby and I started out to my car when I realized I'd left my phone upstairs.

"Luke, I'm an idiot and left my phone upstairs. Go ahead and wait in the car, I'll just be a minute." I said running back into the office. He nodded and headed toward the black SUV parked next to my Audi. I went up to my office, impatient with the slow elevator then practically ran to my office. Hannah looked up at me in surprise.

"Left my phone." I mumbled. She nodded and I went in and grabbed it off my desk before dashing out again. "See you later Hannah!" I called. She waved to me as I headed back down to the lobby.

I was just stepping out of the elevator when a small slender girl with soft brown hair stepped toward me.

"Mrs. Grey?" She asked. I stopped mid walk and looked at her. She looked so young, possibly early twenties.

"Yes?" I asked frowning. I was impatient to be back with my husband for round three of our reunion, and maybe, at some point we'd even eat lunch as well.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you like this. My name Is Katarina Reid. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time." She said squaring her shoulders and giving me a tight smile. She seemed incredibly familiar, though I was sure I had never seen her before.

"I'm sorry, I'm running a bit late for an appointment," I said glancing at the doors.

"I'm sorry to hassle you, really I am, but it's really important." She said giving me a steady stare. I looked back at her and took her in. She was in a pair of jeans that looked dirty and too big for her, and a ratty old sweater that looked like it had been through hell. She didn't look well groomed, though I suspected she made her best effort to appear as though she was.

I sighed and looked into her hazel eyes. They were scared, the complete opposite of her body language. I frowned, thrown off by the brief flash of vulnerability I had seen. "Are you alright?" I asked quietly. She ignored my question.

"I'm sorry to pounce on you like this. I tried contacting Mr. Grey at his office, but they wouldn't let me see him." She explained quietly, her tone clipped and formal. I stared at her in alarm. Who was this girl? She was too young to be an ex sub. A stalker maybe? "I need his help. Your help Mrs. Grey. I know it's asking a lot since you don't know me, but," She paused and shivered, looking around the lobby. I frowned and took a step closer to her.

"What is it that you need?" I asked.

"It's my father. He's after me, out for blood. This was the only place I could run." She said quietly.

"Why us though?" I asked, trying desperately to put the pieces together. Katarina sighed and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. She gave me a look that was complicated and much too in depth for me to understand and I gasped. There was only one other person I knew that had that look.

"I'm your husbands sister."

The words didn't surprise me, though I'm sure they should have. I could see it now so clearly. The way she walked, held herself. The intensity of her eyes and even the way she spoke. She had to be Christian's sister. There was no other explanation for it.

"I didn't want to drop a bomb on you like this, but I can see you're busy. I'm staying at this hotel just outside of town. Here is my number. Please don't make up your mind about me before I can explain this all to you." She whispered urgently. I took the piece of paper she held out to me. "I know you'll probably tell your husband and that's fine. I'm not looking for any free hand outs. I just need help and he is literally the last person I have left in this world." She said quietly. "Thank you for listening to me Mrs. Grey, I'm sorry to have interrupted you." And with that she turned and left, just as quick as she'd come.

I stared at the slip in my hand for ages until I felt Luke walk up behind me.

"Ana is everything okay? It's 11:57." He said quietly. I gathered myself together and nodded at him.

"I'm fine Luke, though would you mind driving me?" I asked. He nodded.

"Of course."

...

When I got to Christian's office, he was pacing around, his phone in his hand. I opened the door to his office and he looked up at me with relief. He was trying not to overreact to my tardiness and I loved him for it.

"There you are." He said with a deep frown on his forehead. I could hear the worry in his voice and I stepped into his arms.

"Hi." I breathed. He held me for a moment longer then pulled away and looked down at me.

"Ana what's wrong?" He asked concerned. I sighed.

"I, uh, I have something to tell you." I said awkwardly. He nodded, concern on his face. We moved to sit on the low leather sofas in his office. I curled up next to him instead of across from him and he wrapped his arms around me.

"What's wrong?" He asked again. I took a deep breath.

"I just met a woman who claims to be your sister."

Christian stared at me a long moment, his face unreadable even to me. Finally he frowned.

"It could have been just some attention seeker, trying to get in on the Grey family fortune." He said finally. "It's happened before."

I looked up at him surprised. It had? How did I not know about that?

"Christian, she seemed," I paused and shook my head. "She was you Christian. Her mannerisms, the way she spoke. It was like looking at a female you." I whispered. Christian looked alarmed.

"What did she want?" He asked after another long moment.

"She needed help. She said her father was out for blood. Her blood." I could feel Christian stiffen beside me and I waited for him to process the information. So I kept talking. I told him exactly what she had told me, trying to not leave anything else.

"What was her name?" He asked finally, pulling out his phone.

"Katarina Reid." I told him. He nodded and punched in a number and brought his phone to his ear.

"Welch. Yes I have a name for you. Katarina Reid. Yes. No she approached Mrs. Grey. Yes." He hung up and looked over at me. "He is on it. We'll figure this out baby. If she's a scammer then we just send her on her way." He didn't mention a plan of in case she was legitimately his sister. I didn't mention one either.

Instead Christian took my hand and led me downstairs to the car where Taylor was waiting for us. We climbed in the back and headed out to lunch, putting Katarina out of our minds.

**So I am going to try to stick to a post schedule of every Sunday and Wednesday. I'm going to do my best to stay consistent. Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

Years ago, Christian made it a rule that while we ate dinner, no one was to answer the phone. He's had the rule in place since the kids were born and it's worked wonderfully. Nothing gets to interrupt family time.

That night during dinner, a wonderful meal of chicken Parmesan, Christian's phone rang and for the first time in 18 years, he excused himself to answer it. The kids all stared at me in stunned silence and I shifted anxiously, knowing it had something to do with Katarina. I turned to the kids, trying to keep on a happy face.

"Keep eating guys." I encouraged.

"Why did dad answer the phone? He never answers the phone during dinner." Phoebe objected.

"There is a lot going on at work. Nothing for us to worry about. Eat." I instructed my kids. They all gave me pointed looks, telling me they knew I was lying, but fortunately kept it to themselves. We returned to our dinner, but conversation was strained. We waited for Christian to come back to the table but he never did.

I found him later in his study. He was sitting back in his chair, gazing out at the Seattle skyline and drumming his fingers on the desk. I walked in and shut the door quietly. He looked up at me.

"Hey." I whispered moving across the room. He took my into his arms immediately and brought me onto his lap. He buried his face in my hair and sighed.

"Hi." He whispered back.

"What's wrong Christian?" I asked gently though I could have probably guessed. He sighed.

"Katarina's story checks out. I don't know if I'm biologically related to her or not, but as soon as I get a sample of her DNA we can send it off to make sure." He said stiffly. I looked down at him, his features hard.

"How do you feel about all this?" I asked quietly, wrapping one arm around his back and bringing my hand up to scratch his head. He leaned into my touch and sighed.

"I don't know Ana." He said quietly. I nodded and hugged him tighter.

"We'll get through this." I whispered.

Eventually there was a knock on the door and we both looked up. Ella was standing there in her pajamas, a book in her little hands.

"Daddy, are you okay?" She asked frowning. I detangled myself from his lap and stood so that he could stand as well.

"I sure am precious. What's up?" He asked putting on a smile. Ella smiled up at him.

"Will you read with me?" She asked gently. Christian nodded.

"Of course I will. Come on." He said leading her away to her room. I watched them leave and felt a lump at my throat. My poor husband. Would his past ever stop haunting him?

I was sitting in bed when Christian finally came into our room. He had his tie dangling around his neck helplessly and he looked exhausted. I put the manuscript I was pouring over down and patted the bed.

"Honey come sleep. You look wiped out." I said quietly. He nodded and stripped his clothing before going into the bathroom. I could hear the sink go on and him brush his teeth before he came back and crawled under the covers. I flipped off my light and curled up with him as he held on to me.

We didn't say a word the entire night.

The next morning when I woke up, Christian was wrapped around me like ivy. I ran my hands through his thick hair patiently, trying to think of some way of helping him. I felt so useless.

Beneath my hands Christian started to stir. He moved his head yawning and looked up at me. I smiled at him.

"Hi." I whispered.

"Hi." He whispered back.

"Are you going to see Katarina today?" I asked quietly. Christian nodded after a moment and rested his head back on my stomach. "Do you want me to come with you?" I offered. Christian was silent as he thought it over. I didn't want him to go through this alone. He'd shut me out too much in the past and we'd come too far to have it start happening again.

"You don't have to." He said finally. He sounded so unsure though. So lost and confused. My poor Fifty.

"I'll come with you." I said, deciding for him. "I want to be there for you and if she wants to be involved in our lives, I want to know why." I said quietly. Christian looked up at me like he wanted to object but didn't. Instead he placed a gentle kiss on my stomach.

"Thank you." He whispered against my skin. I nodded.

We lay in bed longer than we should have that morning, neither one of us willing to move. Eventually Christian's phone started ringing and even my phone chimed in until we were forced out of bed.

I answered the phone, a call from Hannah, telling her I wouldn't be in today and left to go shower. When I came back Christian was pacing around the room. He looked up at me and sighed.

"We're going to meet with her at 11." He said quietly. I nodded in understanding. Christian sighed and went into the bathroom to shower while I went to the closet to get dressed. I couldn't imagine what would happen when we met up with her. Would she want money? What if she wanted to stay with us? To get to know the kids?

My stomach rolled uneasily at the thought. I wasn't sure I wanted her near my children just yet.

Christian came out of the bathroom, a towel hung low on his delicious hips. I stared at him as I put in my earrings, admiring his body.

"Mrs. Grey are you checking me out?" Christian asked grinning at me. I smiled back at him, happy to see him playful again.

"I am indeed Mr. Grey." I said eyeing his chest. "For a 46 year old man you look quite good." I teased. He smiled.

"I told you, I have to stay in shape to keep up with my wife." He said winking. I laughed and reached for my second earing, putting it on the other ear. "I'm just going to get ready baby and then let's go get some breakfast." He suggested. I nodded and turned to the mirror, brushing out my hair. Christian immerged from the closet a few minutes later looking sinfully delicious. I smiled over at him, appreciating his beauty.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked quietly. I nodded and stood, slipping on my heels and placing my hand in his.

The kids were already at school when we made it out to the kitchen. Gail was busy doing dishes and looked up at us.

"Good morning. Are you hungry?" She asked turning off the water. Christian smiled.

"I'm going to take Ana out to breakfast today." He said smiling over at me. "Have a good day Gail." He called. She smiled.

"You two as well." We left the house and climbed into his Audi. Behind us I could hear Taylor and Sawyer getting into their own car. I turned back to Christian.

"So where are we going to have breakfast?" I asked smiling. He shrugged.

"Where ever you like baby. The city is yours."

We ate at a tiny café off Pike that I used to go to before we were married. It was small and nearly empty by the time we got there, but they had some of the best pastries I'd ever had.

Our morning was more or less natural between us, though there was a tension there that normally didn't exist. Christian pretended not to be worried and I pretended with him. Finally around 10:30 Christian sighed.

"We better get going." He said standing. He had shoved all his emotions away and now he was wearing his cool hard Grey mask. It's a mask I only see at the office anymore, though it used to be all I saw. It rattled me to see it now, but I didn't let that show.

Taking my hand Christian led me out to the car before driving us to the Hilton. Christian determined it to be safe neutral territory and since we never stayed there, it was less likely we'd run in to someone we knew. We reserved a conference room for the meeting and Taylor and his team have already gone ahead to make sure everything was set.

Christian stood, completely immobile in the conference room, waiting for Katarina Reid to show up. I had finally taken a seat, deciding not to waste my energy. I could feel the tension from Christian and I frowned at him. He didn't notice.

The door opened and I looked up at Taylor.

"Miss Reid is here." He said quietly. He opened the door further and I stood next to Christian. Katarina walked into the room and everyone grew still. She looked the same as the last I'd seen her, though she was now wearing a rumpled skirt and slightly stained blouse. It was clear she was trying to make an effort. Christian stared at her, unmoving. She stared back at him, not backing down. I sighed. If they had it their way, this would be how the whole meeting was handled. In silence.

Putting my hand on Christian's arm, I turned to Katarina.

"Miss Reid thank you for meeting with us." I said stepping around the table towards her. It seemed to do the trick. She looked up at me and smiled gently.

"Thank you Mrs. Grey." She said formally. I turned to Christian.

"As you may have guessed, this is my husband, Christian Grey." I said, feeling the need to introduce them. Katarina nodded, staring over at him. "Shall we sit?" I asked tugging lightly on Christian. He finally moved and followed my lead to sit. Katarina sat across from us at the table, her hands folded neatly, her face not betraying anything. "Before we start Miss Reid, we ask that you would sign this. It's a standard Nondisclosure Agreement. It's for our protection as well as yours." I said sliding over the document that Christian had insisted on bringing. Katarina took it and read over it quickly nodding.

"Of course." She said after a few minutes of reading it. She pulled out a pen and signed the all the duplicates. She slid them back to me and I smiled.

"Miss Reid, maybe you can tell Mr. Grey exactly what it is you told me." I suggested after another long silence. She nodded.

"Of course. As I told your wife Mr. Grey, I apologize for coming into your lives like this. If it had been possible to avoid it, I would have." She promised. "I'm not in the habit of asking for favors. In fact in all my life this is the first thing I've ever asked for. It isn't easy but I have little choice left." She said tiredly. "3 years ago when I turned 18 and finally managed to wrangle my way out of the foster system in Detroit, I went looking for my mother. I was told, was a dancer at some sleazy club so I started there. I hunted for almost a year before I found her. I don't know what possessed me to seek her out. Anger perhaps, or a need for revenge. I'd never forgiven her for abandoning me. When I found her," Katarina paused and looked down at her hands a moment, composing herself. "She was dying of cancer. She didn't have any money and she was a broken woman, dying alone. I pitied her. I was angry that I couldn't justify my pain. I couldn't take those feelings out on a dying woman." She said blinking hard. I suspected it was to chase away a tear but I didn't mention it. "I spent the rest of her time with her. She only lived a month and half after I found her. She told me where I could find my father and asked me to deliver him one last message from her." Katarina said slowly. "So after she died, I sought him out. I didn't really care about the bastard. I had assumed the likelihood of my mom actually knowing who he was was slim. I never thought to find him until she asked me to." She said quietly. I glanced at Christian who was sitting rigidly in his chair, knuckles fisted and turning white. I placed a hand on top of his and he let out a short breath. I smiled gently at him and turned back to Katarina.

"I found him just outside of Chicago. I expected him to be bottom dwelling piece of shit scum you know?" She shook her head and snorted out a laugh. "Come to find out the bastard is rich. Richer than anyone I had ever met. People say he's high society." She sneered the words. "It's code for crime lord." She growled. Christian was shaking beside me and I inched closer to him, desperate to calm him down. "Anyway, I crashed one of his parties. Really nice party, the kind where people like me aren't invited. I walked right up to the bastard and he had the nerve to try to flirt with me. In front of his wife no less. I took one look at him then punched him in the face and gave him my mom's message. "Fuck you.". Then I got out of there before his security could catch me. I was a complete idiot, hell bent on revenge and I signed my own death warrant. He's been on my trail ever since. I found out about you through one of his whores. This man's got one weakness. Little brown haired women." Katarina said looking pointedly at me. Christian didn't notice thank God and I shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway, this woman knew about you. I wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not. You can never tell when someone is doped up, but I had to give it a shot. I've been running too long and once I realized I kicked the hornet's nest I knew he'd be set out to destroy. In case that whore was telling the truth, I didn't want you to get caught in a storm with no idea why." She said finally looking at Christian. He remained silent for a long moment and they just stared at each other.

"What's his name?" I asked finally. Katarina looked at me. "Your father, what's his name?" I looked over at Christian cautiously and he took a deep breath. I looked back to Katarina who sighed.

"Damian Black."

...

Katarina excused herself to use the restroom and I turned to Christian. He was silently fuming, taking in everything he'd heard.

"Honey." I said quietly. He looked at me, his eyes hard. "Christian talk to me please." I whispered. He shut his eyes a moment and then looked at me again.

"Ana," His voice broke over my name and I reached out my arms and wrapped them around him. He held me silently, his body thrumming with tension. "Ana what the fuck am I going to do?" He asked against my neck.

"Christian we'll figure this out, together okay? I promise." I whispered quietly.

"Christ Ana what about our family? Our kids?" Christian yelled suddenly. His eyes were wide with fright and I suddenly knew that our kids may well be suffocated with the number of security with them in the coming days. "Taylor!" Christian snapped. Taylor entered the room silently. "We need to up the security for everyone. Do you hear me? Everyone." Christian barked. Taylor nodded.

"I'm on it Sir." He said quietly. Christian looked anxious suddenly and stood, gently sliding me off his lap.

"Maybe we should pull them out of school." Christian said starting to pace. "We can keep them home. They will be safe at home."

All of his delayed responses were kicking in and I could feel him panicking.

"Christian, stop." I said jumping up. "Honey look at me. Our kids have to go to school. We cannot panic them and keep them under house arrest on maybes. We'll talk to the school, we'll explain that we are adding extra security for the kids. We'll have everyone watching out for them. Okay?" I asked taking his face in my hands. "Our kids will be fine. I promise." I said firmly.

"What about you?" He asked looking down at me with a frown.

"Sawyer will keep coming to work with me. Hell twenty people can come to work with me. Honey I'll be fine. It's you I'm worried about." I said gently. He sagged a moment under my touch before bristling again.

"Ana I can't take risks with you or the kids." He whispered.

"You guys have children?"

I looked up at Katarina who was back from the restroom. I nodded and slid my hands from Christian's face, down to his arm. Katarina looked distressed.

"Shit I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I would never have come here if I had known that." She insisted. "As it is, I can see that coming here was a bad idea. I shouldn't have brought up all my fucked up shit into your lives." She said standing and taking her coat from behind her chair. "Thank you for seeing me Mr. and Mrs. Grey." She said looking up at us.

"Miss Reid wait." Christian said after a moment. She looked up at him patiently. "I don't need a DNA test to tell me that we are related. It seems abundantly clear to me, however the paperwork is nice." He said sliding on his flawless mask. "If you would consent to it, I'd like to get one done to confirm we are siblings. I would also like to offer you help. You seem a very capable young woman but if this man is who you say he is," He paused and let the silence speak.

Katarina's eyes watered a moment but she didn't let the tears fall. Finally she spoke. "I'm not sure what to say Mr. Grey." She said finally. He nodded.

"Do you have a place to stay here in Seattle?" He asked pulling me into his side. Katarina shook her head.

"I'm staying at an airport hotel at the moment." She said quietly.

"We'll get you an apartment in the city. Any preference where?" He asked turning to Taylor to make sure he was getting all this. Taylor nodded his confirmation.

"No, please you don't have to do that. I can figure something out." She said quietly.

"Miss Reid please, it's the least we can do." I said quietly. She looked at me and the vulnerability in her eyes reminded me of Christian. My dear, sweet Christian. I was instantly protective of her.

"Mrs. Grey," She said.

"Please call me Ana." I said sweetly. "And we insist. It'll be so much easier for you to stay safe if Taylor and his men know where you are." I said motioning to Taylor. Katarina looked at him.

"Body guards?" She asked surprised.

"I don't take my family's safety lightly." Christian answered. Katarina stared at him a long moment before sighing.

"Thank you Mr. Grey. Really." She said finally. "Family is somewhat of a foreign concept to me. I don't know that I'd be any good at being a part of one." She said quietly. I looked at her then at Christian, wondering if he too saw their similarities or if it was just me. Christian didn't say anything for a long time so I looked at Katarina.

"Why don't we take it one day at a time?" I offered smiling at her. She watched me a moment before cracking a tiny smile. She was really beautiful, or she would be if she could get past her scowl. Just like my Fifty.

"Thank you Ana." She whispered. I smiled and moved around the table to approach her. She watched me wearily and I held out my arms, an offering. She hesitated before reaching out to hug me.

"I'm very glad that you came to us." I whispered. Even if she brought with her drama and stress, she also brought with her a warning and a possible chance for Christian to connect with family. That above all else, thrilled me the most.

Katarina pulled away and gave me a tight smile. She turned to Christian who was now behind me and nodded to him. She held out her hand to him and he shook it firmly.

"Taylor will get a DNA sample before you go if that's alright." He said stiffly. She nodded back.

"Of course." She said just as formally.

"I'll have one of Taylor's men escort you to your hotel then they will take you to your apartment." Christian said. She nodded again, this time visibly uncomfortable though she didn't say anything. "Right. It was nice to meet you Miss Reid." He said wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Katarina, or Kat if you prefer." She offered. Christian nodded. I smiled once more at her.

"It was so nice to meet again Katarina. Please stay well." I said smiling at her. She gave me another small smile.

"You as well Ana. Again I'm so sorry for the trouble I've caused." She said glancing at Christian. I shook my head and waved it off. I smiled at her once more before leaving the room with Christian. Taylor stayed behind to take car of the details. I looked up at Christian as we walked but he was impossible to read. We headed down to the car and Christian pulled out his phone. "Welch. Yes a new name. Yes. Damian Black." He said stiffly. He waited a moment then nodded before hanging up. I wrapped my arms around him tighter and he glanced down at me.

"Are you okay to drive?" I asked softly. He paused mid step and frowned. He didn't answer me right away though. He looked at me, then at the ground below us before sighing.

"I might wreck the car." He said finally. "If you weren't with me I might want to." He confided. "Will you drive?" He asked handing out the keys. I took them and reached up to kiss him gently.

"I love you." I whispered, not showing him how much his words scared me. He nodded and shut his eyes, leaning his forehead against mine.

"I love you too Ana." He whispered. He held me for a long time, long enough for Taylor to come back down into the garage. When he did, Christian stood up and took a deep breath.

"Everything's taken care of. Miss Reid is on her way with Johnson and Adams." He said quietly. Christian nodded and turned to lead us to the car opening the driver's side to me. I slid in silently and Taylor looked over at us in surprise but didn't say anything. Christian shut the door and walked around the other side of the car, saying a few words to Taylor before getting in himself. He sat down and sighed, leaning his head against the headrest. I put my hand on his knee and rubbed it gently. He looked at me and his gray eyes were dark and smoldering. I gasped, knowing that look. Oh my Fifty. How was it possible for him to switch that fast? Even after all these years it still made my head spin.

He smiled at me, a slow, salacious smile that had no warmth in it and I shivered, completely turned on.

"Drive fast baby." He purred next to me. I nodded and turned on the car before peeling out of the garage, desperate to get home. Beside me, Christian laughed, a low dark laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

I couldn't remember the last time I was this physically worn out. My body was completely exhausted, even with my maintained physical stamina, I was no match for Christian's still insatiable sex drive. Of course, my sex drive was just as insatiable, but I could feel my body getting old. I was 39, God I'd be 40 soon. No wonder I was so worn out.

I giggled to myself. My age had nothing to do with it. The two hours of incredibly vigorous sex was all to blame.

Christian's hand came up and wound around my waist and I smiled, my eyes still shut.

"God I love that sound." He whispered against my shoulder.

"What me being too exhausted to move after sex?" I asked giggling. Christian laughed quietly.

"No, though I do quite like that too. I love your laugh. I don't know what I'd do without it. I don't know what I'd do without you Ana." He said softly. I opened my eyes and looked over at him. He was frowning, his grey eyes storming.

"She's your sister isn't she?" I asked quietly. He nodded silently, understanding me immediately.

"I know she is. That test will just confirm it." He said slowly. I nodded.

"She's so much like you. Or how you used to be, or how you still are sometimes." I said smiling at him. He laughed, but the sound was sad. I reached over and rubbed his face gently with my hand. "Hey, it's going to be okay. I believe in you Christian. We all do. I know that you're going to be able to keep us safe. What stresses me out is how safe you'll be." I whispered.

"I'll be fine." He said quietly. I shook my head.

"Baby you're not fine now. I need you to promise me something." I said rolling over to really face him. He looked at me and sighed.

"Anything baby. You know that." He whispered kissing my hand.

"Promise me you won't shut me out. I know you do it to protect me, but I'm your wife, your partner. I can't be left in the dark." I said quietly. I could see him mull over my request and it made me happy he was at least considering my words.

"Ana," He sighed. "I just don't want you to worry." He said finally.

"Baby that's a two way street." I said softly. He frowned as if he'd never realized that. "Promise me." I whispered. He sighed and kissed my hand again.

"Okay Ana. I promise." He said softly. I smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him. He smiled against my lips.

"Are you hungry?" He asked. I smirked. Could I go another round?

"I'm not sure my old body is up for it, though I will give it my all." I said smirking. Christian laughed and wrapped his arms around me. I cherished the sound.

"Your body is just as amazing as it was when I met you." He whispered. "But I was actually asking about food." He said kissing me again. I laughed.

"Oh well yes I'd love some of that too." I said grinning. He chuckled and scooped me out of bed.

"Well come on Mrs. Grey. Let's go rustle up some grub." He said grinning.

"Christian we are both naked." I said giggling. He laughed and set me down, throwing his shirt over me before reaching for his boxers. I pulled on my panties and he scooped me up again before I could get more dressed. I laughed as he carried me out to the kitchen. Gail was out there putting groceries away. She looked up at us and smiled.

"Good afternoon Gail. Mrs. Grey is famished. Do we have anything to eat?" Christian asked grinning. I hadn't seen him this boisterous in so long. It made me so incredibly happy to see.

"Of course, I'll whip something up." Gail said grinning at us. Christian smiled.

"I think we'll eat out in the yard Gail. It's such a beautiful day today." He called carrying me outside. The sun was shining and it was actually warm: the perfect day. Christian carried me over to the table then set me down in a chair, pulling over another one and sitting as close to me as possible. I laughed at him.

"I sure do love to hear you laugh Mrs. Grey." Christian said softly.

"I sure do love it when you make me laugh Mr. Grey." I said back. He smiled and kissed me gently.

"Thank you." He said again. I nodded and Gail came out with some reheated pasta from last night. I lit up at the sight of it. Delicious!

Christian and I sat out on the veranda enjoying our meal and laughing like none of our problems existed. It was blissful. Eventually we finished eating and Christian stood, holding out his hand to me. I smiled at him and followed him inside the house. We sat down on the sofa and he pulled my feet up on to his lap. I grinned, happily.

"You know I think the last time we spent the afternoon like this was at least, gosh, two months ago?" I teased. Christian grinned at me.

"I won't let such a long time pass until next time." He said winking at me. I laughed.

"I actually can't remember the last time I actively lounged around the house in your shirt and my panties and that's it." I said smiling. Christian smirked.

"I remember. It was a year and a half ago. Phoebe made a comment that turned you scarlet. You swore not to do it around the kids again." He said smiling. I laughed again.

"Ah I remember. Well it's a good thing the kids aren't here." I said smiling. He nodded.

"A good thing indeed Mrs. Grey."

Then as if on queue, the front door opened and the kids spilled in. I sat up on the sofa, panicked. Christian let out a loud laugh and the kids all looked over at us.

"Mom, dad what are you two doing home? I thought you guys were at work." Phoebe said smiling at us. I blushed.

"We got off early." Christian said smoothly. His words turned me scarlet and he smirked at me.

"Look what I made at school!" Ella said hopping over to us. She came around the front of the couch, eyeing our outfits in confusion. I blushed and sat up, brushing my hair behind my ears.

"Let me see that sweetie." I said holding my hands out. She came and sat between Christian and I and held out a small clay pot. It was surprisingly well built and was painted a soft blue colour.

"Ella that's beautiful!" I cried wrapping my arm around her. She grinned at me and looked at Christian.

"You're very talented." He said smiling at her. She grinned, pleased.

"Mom, where are your pants?" Phoebe asked looking at me. She looked at Christian then back at me and then her eyes went wide. "Oh ew, no, so did not need to know that." She said scrunching up her face. "Bleh."

I blushed fifty shades of red and Ella hopped up so Christian could pull me into his arms. Teddy was silent, but I could see a smirk on his face.

"Right, well we're going to get dressed." I said hopping up. Christian stood too and followed me into our room. I groaned as soon as we were in there. My body was still sore and now my kids knew exactly what I had been playing hooky for.

"Relax baby. It's good for our kids to know we have a healthy sex life. It means that we still love each other." He said smiling and wrapping his arms around me. I sighed.

"I would have died if I caught my parents like this." I whispered. Christian laughed.

"Well it's a good thing our kids have my candor." He said smirking. I rolled my eyes and I felt his hands twitch against my waist.

"I'm going to shower. You should probably do the same." I said looking over at him. He smiled.

"Is that an invitation Mrs. Grey?" He asked suggestively. I stared at my door, my very locked bedroom door. The kids were home and they would know if something was going on. I turned back to him and smiled.

"Rain check." I said kissing him. He nodded pulling closer to me and I laughed. "Not Helping Mr. Grey." I giggled.

"I can't help it Mrs. Grey." He said leaning into me. I sighed.

"Nor can I Mr. Grey." I kissed him once more then pushed him away and headed for the bathroom. "I'm going to shower." I said smiling. He nodded and left me to shower. I got in the bathroom and locked the door, not trusting Christian to not come in. I turned on the shower and shivered, my body still crawling with want for my beautiful husband.

I shook my head. _Come on Grey, focus_. I snapped at myself. Nodding firmly, I climbed into the shower.

...

Christian was on the phone when I got out. He was still in his boxers and he was sitting on the edge of our bed, his head in his hands.

"No I've got it. Email it over to me. Thanks Welch." He said hanging up. I looked over at him curiously and he sighed.

"What's up?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Welch is sending over his background on Damian Black." He explained. I blinked.

"That was fast." I said quietly. Christian nodded.

"He's quite efficient." He agreed. I frowned and stepped into the closet, pulling out clothes. I laid them out on the bed and toweled off.

"What are you thinking?" I asked after a moment. He looked up at me and sighed.

"I'm trying to figure out Katarina." He said quietly. I frowned at him.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He sighed.

"How far do I bring her into our lives?" He asked looking up at me. I paused, slipping on my underwear.

"Well, ultimately it's up to you Christian, but I think you should let her in. She's a sister, a sister from a past you don't care to think about sure, but still, she's your little sister." I said pulling on my bra. Christian stared at me in surprise.

"You want me to welcome her into the family? Without knowing a thing about her?" He asked. I sighed.

"I'm sure you know more about her than she does by now." I said smiling at him. He shrugged but didn't smile. "Look Honey, just go slow. See how things play out. Maybe she ends up being part of our life, maybe she doesn't. Either way this decision is yours." I said slowly. He stared at me then took a deep breath nodding. I'd just given him something invaluable. Control. He looked calmer now because of it and I smiled at him slipping on my jeans and my tee shirt. He stood and headed to the bathroom.

"I'm going to shower and then I'll deal with all this. I can't think when I smell like sex." He said smirking at me. He walked by me and I smelled him. He _did_ smell like sex.

I could feel my mind wandering and I gazed at him hungrily. "Is something wrong Mrs. Grey? "He asked smiling at me. I shook my head.

"No, I'm going to check on the kids." I said rushing out of the room before I could jump him. His laugh followed me all the way to the living room.

...

I was sitting helping Ella with her homework when Christian finally emerged from the bedroom. He was hunched over his phone, his brow furrowed. I watched him from the breakfast bar, trying to figure out what was going on.

His phone buzzed and he brought it to his ear. "Yes." He barked. He paused and glanced over at Ella and me before continuing on up to his office. I sighed and turned back to Ella.

"Mom did I do these fractions right?" She asked looking up at me. I looked down at her homework. I was so not the math person. That was definitely Christian.

"Oh sweetie I'm sorry, I have no idea." I said smiling at her. She laughed at me.

"Okay how about we work on English homework then." She said pulling out the assignments. I smiled at her.

"Now that I can help you with."

...

Christian was buried in his office all evening. I went in twice to bring him a glass of wine and to check on him; both times he was on the phone, too distracted to really see me. I had left the wine on the desk and let him be.

I was staring out at our perfect view of Seattle, sipping my own glass of wine when Teddy came into the room. He wandered into the kitchen and eyed the drinks. Without saying anything he pulled down a wine glass and poured himself some wine. I watched him with an arched brow. He was only 17. Sure we let him have wine at family parties or social gatherings, but it wasn't a frequent thing.

He finished pouring the glass and recorked the bottle smoothly, just like his father. He grabbed the glass and came over to stand next to me. I waited for him to say something but he didn't. He just stood there, holding the glass. Finally I turned back to the view.

"What's wrong mom?" He asked after a few minutes had passed. I glanced at him, my little boy. He was so much taller than me now, almost as tall as his father.

"Nothing." I mumbled sipping my wine.

"You're a terrible liar." He whispered. I smiled sadly.

"Yes I am." I said glancing at him again. He sighed and sipped the wine. "So you're a drinker now?" I asked curiously. Teddy looked down at me and gave me a soft smile.

"It's for you. Your glass is about empty and it looks like you could do with another." He explained. I smiled at my son and wrapped my arm around his waist in a hug. He reached down and hugged my shoulders. "Should I be worried about you or dad?" He asked handing me the glass. I gave him my now empty one and took the full one.

I didn't answer right away, because I didn't know what to say. As he had just pointed out, I was a terrible liar.

"No Honey. We're taking care of it." I said finally. He looked down at me as I shifted away from him.

"Mom?" He said quietly.

"Yeah Teddy Bear?" I asked looking up at him. He smiled at my nickname for him.

"You know I love you guys right?" He asked quietly. I frowned at him.

"Honey of course we know that. And you know we love you, unconditionally." I said rubbing his arm. He nodded with a small smile. I looked back at the view then frowned. "What brought that on?" I asked curiously. He looked at me and I was shaken by how much he looked like his father. Almost an exact copy of him, except those eyes. Those were my eyes.

"I got into a fight with Lilla." He said quietly. I frowned in concern. I knew he had been dating Lilla for almost a year now though we'd met her only a handful of times. Teddy, as it turned out was an incredibly private person, just like someone else I knew. Still, he'd always led us to believe that they were really happy in their relationship.

"What happened?" I asked quietly. He looked back up at the view.

"She said I'm not expressive enough." He said after a moment. "She didn't even know that I love her." He said shaking his head as if he can't believe it. "I thought I'd been clear about it, but apparently I haven't." He said.

"Well did you ever tell her you loved her?" I asked gently. I didn't want him to see how shaken I was. Here was my little boy, my baby, telling me about his feelings for his girlfriend. He'd grown up too fast. Where had my toddler gone?

Teddy smirked sadly at me.

"No, not in so many words." He said bringing his hand up to scratch his neck. I smiled. Yes, exactly like his father. "It's not something I get around to telling many people." He said looking down at me again. I smiled up at him.

"Sweetie, one day you're going to find a girl who will make you want to say it, over and over and over. If Lilla isn't that girl, that's okay." I said softly. He sighed and looked back outside.

"I wish it were her." He said quietly. I smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry it's not." I whispered. He kept his gaze outside and I turned to stare out at the view again.

After several minutes passed Teddy spoke again. "I'm glad you and dad still love each other." He said softly. I smiled.

"Oh Honey I will never stop loving your father." I promised. He nodded and glanced down at me.

"Yeah but that's not what I'm talking about." He said. I frowned and he smirked. "It's good you both took the day off to have sex." He said to my absolute horror. "Half my friends have never even seen their parents in the same room. Seeing you and dad constantly pawing at each other makes me hopeful that love and commitment really do exist." He said passing by my embarrassment easily. I stared at him, not sure exactly how to feel. Finally I took a deep breath.

"Honey, love and commitment exist if two people are willing to put in the work and effort to keep them nurtured. Your father and I have been through a lot and we've had to work very hard to get to where we are now. It hasn't always been easy, but I know that I'd never trade it for anything. He completes me." I said quietly. Teddy smiled.

"That's what I'm looking for." He said. I nodded.

"Well it didn't take me long to find it, I was only 21 when I stumbled into your dad's office, but he was older. Grandma Carla was even older when she found Bob. It comes when it comes, but when it does, it'll hit hard and fast." I said smiling at my memories. Teddy nodded.

"I don't think I'm in a rush." He said after a moment. I sipped my wine and looked at him.

"Good because to be frank, I'm not ready to be a mother-in-law, or a grandmother." I said smirking at him. He laughed.

"Don't worry, dad already walked me through the safe sex talk." He said smiling at me. I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't want to know if my baby was having sex. I knew if I asked him now, he'd answer me, straight up, no bullshit. Teddy was easy to figure out so long as you had the right questions to ask.

Teddy smiled at me again and shifted.

"I'm going to finish up some homework. Goodnight mom." He said leaning down to kiss my cheek.

"Night sweetie." I said watching him put my empty glass on the counter before he moved through the dark house toward his room. I looked back out at Seattle and sipped my drink.

...

Eventually I finished my wine and wandered back up to Christian's study. He was at his desk, his gaze out on the same skyline I had just been staring at. I smiled at him as he looked up at me.

"Hey." I whispered. He sighed. I could see the tension in his shoulders. "How bad is it?" I asked quietly. Christian turned to his desk and looked down at the papers in front of him as I came around the desk. He pulled me into his lap and I snuggled against his chest, waiting for his answer.

"It's bad." He said quietly. I waited, eyeing the papers. "Katarina was right. Damian Black is a crime lord." He continued. "He's got his hands deep in so many pots, bad pots." He said frowning. "He's going to be a bastard to take down." He said finally.

"Are you sure he's your father?" I asked quietly. He sighed and picked up a small photo, handing it to me. I looked at it and gasped. It was Christian, down to the piercing eyes. Except this man had light grey streaks in his hair and a malicious glint in his eyes. He made my blood run cold.

"Jesus." I whispered. "That's Black?" I asked, my hands shaking lightly. Christian nodded.

"Yes." He whispered. I stared at the photo another moment then shuddered and put it down on the desk. I wrapped my arms around Christian and he sagged against me. He wouldn't say it, but I could feel how stressed out he was.

I sat holding him for a long moment before I let out a yawn. Christian shifted and wrapped his arms around me.

"Come on Baby, let's go to bed." He whispered into my hair. I nodded.

"Let's make sure the kids are asleep." I said standing. He nodded and followed me from the study. Both Ella and Phoebe were sleeping soundly and Teddy was just finishing his homework when we said good night to him. Christian walked us back to our room, his hand wound through mine.

"Teddy told me he's glad we took the day off for sex." I whispered before I could think better of it. Christian looked up at me in surprise then grinned.

"Did he now?" He asked smiling. "I must say I have to agree with him." He said pulling me through the door of our room and shoving me up against the suddenly closed door. I gasped. My body was tired and sore, I was absolutely exhausted, and then Christian leaned into me and suddenly I was ready to go all night long. The things this man could do to me. "How about that rain check now Mrs. Grey." He said nuzzling into my neck. I gasped.

"I think I would like that very much Mr. Grey."


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

My phone was ringing. I could hear it ringing, but I couldn't seem to will myself to get up and look for it.

"Baby." Christian's lips were on me, everywhere on me. "Baby Hannah is calling." He said against my skin. My eyes fluttered open.

"She can leave a message." I gasped. Christian smiled down at me and I stared up into his beautiful gray eyes.

"Good morning Mrs. Grey." He whispered. I smiled at him and reached up to kiss him.

"Good morning Mr. Grey." I said against him. He pulled away and sighed.

"I have to get going. I have a business breakfast thing this morning that I am now running late for." He said glancing at the clock. It was then that I noticed he was fully dressed.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost 7:30." He whispered. I looked up at him and frowned. He looked exhausted.

"Honey did you sleep last night?" I asked reaching up to touch his face. He smiled sadly.

"I got in an hour or two." He said lightly.

"How are you?" I asked sitting up. He hesitated, his eyes conflicted.

"I'll be fine baby. I'll see you tonight alright?" He asked kissing me again. His distraction worked, for now. "I love you Mrs. Grey. Have a good day." He said softly. I smiled at him.

"I love you too Mr. Grey." I whispered as he grabbed his jacket and left the room. I sighed and looked over at my phone. It had stopped ringing, for now, but if Hannah was calling there must be something going on. Groaning I crawled out of bed and headed straight for the shower. First things first.

"Good morning Gail." I said walking into the kitchen. I had on a tight dark grey dress and some of Christian's favourite heels. They were horribly expensive, but when I wore them I felt strong, secure and in control. I needed a little bit of that today after the news of Damian Black. Plus they made me feel sexy.

"Good morning Ana. Sleep well?" She asked offering me a cup of tea. I smiled at her in thanks and took it.

"Yes I did. You?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Just fine dear." She said warmly. I smiled wandered into the dining room where the kids were gathered eating breakfast.

"Good morning you three." I said smiling. They all smiled back at me. "What's for breakfast Gail? It smells amazing." Gail, who had followed me in to the room, set a jar on the table and grinned.

"Oh well on special request we are having French crepes today." She said smiling at Phoebe. My daughter grinned back.

"Mom remember when we visited Paris when I was five?" She asked wistfully. I blushed and nodded, settling down in my own seat. Ella was a result of that trip to Paris. "Can we go back? Please?" She begged. I smiled at her and sipped my tea that Gail had prepared for me.

"I'll tell you what, you master French and we'll go back." I promised her. She grinned.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded.

"But you have to convince your father you're fluent. Which means you'll have to speak to him in French." I said looking at her. She hesitated. Christian was infamously picky with language. He once had made someone repeat the same sentence 12 times until they were grammatically correct.

"It's a deal!" Phoebe said smiling. I laughed.

"When I master Chinese, can we go to China?" Ella asked looking up at me. I smiled.

"Sure Sweetie." I would never say it to the kids but I highly expected we would be making a trip to China much sooner than to Paris. I looked over at Teddy who was, as usual, silent. "Anywhere you want to go when you master German?" I asked. He looked up at me and shrugged lightly.

"Maybe Austria." He said quietly. I smiled at him.

"Great, so now that we have all these grand adventures planned, what do you guys have planned today?" I asked digging into my own plate of food.

"I have cheerleading practice today." Phoebe announced.

"And I have my mandolin lesson." Ella said. I looked at Teddy who was examining his crepe.

"And you Teddy?" I asked quietly. He looked up at me and shrugged.

"I have to talk to Lilla." He said quietly. I realized immediately what he was saying and I frowned, saddened for him. He ignored my gaze though and focused on his breakfast.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my thoughts and I snatched it off the breakfast bar.

"Good morning Hannah." I said giving the kids apologetic glances. They all shrugged, forgiving me. Weekday breakfasts in the Grey house were much less formal than dinners.

"Good morning Ana." Hannah said rushed. "I'm sorry to call you so much this morning but today is looking rather full with appointments. Your first one is in an hour." She said quickly. I glanced at the clock. Shoot.

"Okay Hannah I'll be right in." I said moving around the room, looking for my purse.

"See you soon Ana." She said before hanging up. I looked at the kids who were all talking quietly.

"I'm sorry guys, I have to get to work. I'll see you all later and have a wonderful day." I said kissing each of them on the cheek before waving to Gail and slipping out the front door. Sawyer was waiting for me in the driveway.

"Good morning Ana." He said nodding. I smiled at him.

"Morning Luke. I'm running a bit late." I said wincing. He nodded.

"Mr. Grey has instructed us to drive you to work." He said quietly. I frowned at him.

"Did he?" I asked. Luke nodded.

"He's added extra security." Luke reminded me. Then I remembered Damian Black and my stomach churned unexpectedly.

"Right, okay then lets go." I said sliding into the SUV. Sitting in the front seat was a man I had never met before.

"Mrs. Grey, this is Jameson." Luke explained. I nodded to Jameson who gave me a curt nod.

"Mrs. Grey." He said stiffly. I sighed.

"Nice to meet you Jameson." I said sitting back in my seat. Luke got in the front and we started to drive.

...

When we pulled up to the office, I noticed men in suits dotted everywhere, strategically placed. I started to count them, knowing full well that they were all Christian's men. I turned to Luke as we got in the building and passed more of them.

"How many men are here?" I asked him as we got in the elevator. He looked at me a long moment then sighed.

"20." He said looking straight ahead. My jaw dropped. 20 men? What the hell was Christian thinking?

I stormed into the office, fueled by my sudden annoyance. I knew he was paranoid, but this was a whole new level, even for him. Hannah greeted me with a cup of tea but I brushed past her.

"I'll be right out. I have to make a call." I hissed. She retreated immediately and I turned to my phone. Ripping it out of my pocket, I called Christian.

"Hello Ana." He said smoothly. "Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Don't hello Ana me." I snapped. "Jesus Christian, 20 men?" My voice was all over the place and I tried to calm myself down enough to focus my feelings.

"Baby, it's for your protection. You know that's not something I take lightly. And if you'll recall, it was you who suggested it in the first place." He continued. I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard him smiling.

"Christian this is insane. Call them off, have them reassigned I don't care. Luke has been watching over me for 18 years. I think he can handle whatever is out there." I said pacing my office.

"Ana we don't know what's out there." Christian pointed out. "Look baby I'd love to talk to you more but I'm in a meeting." He said quietly. I felt my face blush.

"Why do you answer the phone when you are in meetings?" I asked, honestly curious.

"I only answer for you baby." He said softly. I shifted, still annoyed. "I'll have Taylor remove a few of the men, but baby, most of them are staying." He promised. I didn't have the time nor the strength to fight him anymore. I had to go into a meeting myself.

"Fine." I growled. "But this is so not over." I threatened. He laughed.

"We'll just have to settle this one tonight." His meaning was incredibly clear and I blushed knowing that a room full of people had just heard him say that to me.

"I'll talk to you later Christian." I said finally.

"I love you baby."

I smiled despite myself. "I love you too." I hung up and groaned. Okay, no worries, I could handle this.

...

"Well gentlemen, I think that concludes our meeting." I said smiling. I stood and the entire conference room stood with me. Hannah collected her notes and nodded to me, ready to go. "Thank you." I said smiling at everyone. They all nodded and I gathered my things and started out of the room.

"Oh Ms. Grey!"

I looked up once Hannah and I had left the conference room. Simon Tannings, a new editor with our company was running toward me smiling. He had been in the meeting and had handled himself remarkably well for someone so inexperienced.

"Mr. Tannings." I said smiling at him. "What can I do for you?"

He smiled at me. "I just wanted to say thank you, for the job." He said grinning. I laughed.

"I believe Mary is the one to thank for that. She is the one who hired you after all." I said grinning. He laughed.

"Yes well you're her boss so thanks for letting her hire me." He said warmly. He was a kind man, maybe young thirties with sandy blond hair and a smile that never quite. He was a little refreshing actually. "I also wanted to say I was very impressed with the way you handled yourself in there. My previous company was run with a work ethic I didn't approve of. I'm glad to see it seems I am on the same page as everyone here." He said. I smiled at him.

"That is good news indeed Mr. Tannings." I said starting to walk with him. He smiled.

"Call me Simon." He insisted. "So I did have a question about company policy." He said bringing a hand up to scratch his chin. I nodded. "I wondered what the policy was on asking the CEO out for coffee."

I stopped walking, startled.

"Completely friendly of course, just to say thanks." He said giving me another charming smile.

"Oh, well I don't think there is anything written specifically against it though I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline." I said awkwardly. He shrugged.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. Lord knows I don't want any angry boyfriends coming after me or anything." He joked. I laughed.

"No angry boyfriend, but one very jealous husband." I said twirling the ring on my finger. He caught the action and his eyes went wide.

"Jeez now I'm an even bigger idiot. I'm so sorry Mrs. Grey. Honestly, I didn't mean any harm." He insisted. I smiled at him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Simon, no harm done. And call me Ana. Everyone else does." I said trying to make him feel less awkward. He nodded.

"So how long have you been married?" He asked.

"18 years." I said smiling down at my ring. Simon gapped at me.

"Wow I'm sorry again. I thought you were in your twenties. You look so young."

I blushed at his compliment. "Well, I'm going to go so I can stop making such a fool of myself. Thanks again and once more, I'm sorry about being awkward." He said stepping away from me. I laughed.

"It's not a problem Simon." I insisted. He grinned at me once more before heading down to his office. I turned to Hannah who was barely hiding her smile. "That was a bit unexpected." I whispered to her. She giggled.

"You've still got it Mrs. Grey." She said making me giggle as well. I thought about my afternoon yesterday and then my evening that followed and smiled. Yes, I did still have it.

...

"Ana?"

I looked up at Luke who was at my office door. I smiled at him. "What's up Luke?" I asked sitting back.

"Mr. Grey and Taylor are on their way over." He said softly. I glanced that the clock. Was it five already?

"Oh thank you Luke. I'll just finish up here then I'll be ready to go." I said turning back to my computer. He nodded and slipped out of the room. I finished checking my emails then stood, gathering my purse and coat and a few files I needed to work at home before leaving my office. I looked at Hannah who was busy typing away.

"I'm heading home Hannah. Why don't you do the same?" I suggested. She looked at me and nodded.

"I will. I just have a few last minute things to take care of then I am gone." She insisted. I smiled at her.

"Have a good night!" I said heading away from her desk. She nodded. "Oh and Hannah?"

She looked up at me, waiting. I smiled at her. "I'll try to make sure Luke actually makes it home tonight. I know he's been a little bit busy lately." I said quietly. Hannah smiled at me.

"Thanks Ana." She said warmly. I wasn't sure when it started, but at some point many years ago, Hannah and Luke had started seeing each other. It made sense. She was my assistant, he was my security, they were both around me nonstop everyday.

About ten years ago, they'd finally gotten married and Hannah had had their first child, Davy two years after that. Three years later they had Timothy. I knew Hannah wanted another child but held off because of demands at work and I felt bad about that. I didn't want her to be stressed out and not have a child because she didn't want to miss work. Sure, I depended on her greatly, but I could always find someone to fill in for her.

I mulled the thoughts over in my head as I made my way down to the lobby. The black SUV was sitting out front and Sawyer opened the door for me. I smiled at him and climbed in. Christian was on the phone, but as soon as he saw me, he hung up and pulled me toward him. I didn't even have time to gasp as he pulled me onto his lap and kissed the breath out of me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, dizzy and excited at this unexpected turn of events.

He pulled away and I sucked in a deep breath. "Hi." He whispered smiling at me.

"Hi yourself." I said giggling. He grinned and looked down at my legs that were stretched across the backseat.

"Oh baby, you're wearing those shoes." He groaned into my neck. I shivered and wiggled my feet.

"They go so well with my dress." I said smiling at him. He arched an eyebrow and looked down at the black trench coat I was wearing.

"You're all wrapped up like a gift." He said grinning at me. I laughed.

"Honey you should put me down so that we can go home." I suggested softly. He looked at me and sighed.

"Fine." He relented, placing me in the seat next to his. I buckled my seatbelt and he did the same before motioning to Taylor to drive. "How was your day?" He asked taking my hand in his. I smiled.

"It was fine. Lots of meetings as usual. We did hire a new editor. I think he's going to work really well with everyone else." I said smiling in memory of Simon. He had been out of line asking me to coffee, but he knew that and more than made up for it. I considered mentioning it to Christian but decided not to. Why tell him something that would only turn into a fight? "How was your day?" I asked looking up at him. He shrugged.

"It was fine. Lots of meetings as usual." He said smirking at me. I laughed.

"Look at us, two old fuddy duddies complaining about meetings. My how we've aged Mr. Grey." I teased.

"I don't know about me, but you Mrs. Grey, haven't aged a day." He said giving me a look that made me squirm.

I smiled at him and leaned in to kiss him.

"Christian?" I asked pulling away.

"Yeah baby?" He asked wrapping his arms around me. I leaned into him.

"Let's give Sawyer the night off. Poor Hannah misses her husband." I said snuggling into him. He laughed.

"Anything you want baby." He said gently. I smiled at him.

"Be careful with those words Mr. Grey. I may just take you up on that." I said looking up at him.

"Oh Mrs. Grey, I really wish you would."

My body burned and ached suddenly and I wanted nothing more than to be with my husband, maybe back at Escala, in our playroom. I shivered at the delicious thought.

Christian's phone rang, interrupting my thoughts and he growled, bringing it to his ear. "What?" He snapped. He was silent for a few moments but I could see his shoulders tense. Finally he hung up the phone. I frowned at him.

"Who was it?" I asked quietly. He looked up at me.

"They've confirmed that Katarina Reid is my half sister."

The car was silent as I took in his words. It shouldn't have been a shock, really it shouldn't have, but I still couldn't help feeling blind-sided by the news. Christian had a sister. A biological sister.

How many more siblings could he have out there?

The thought overwhelmed me and I shifted uncomfortably. I looked up at Christian who was staring at his phone, unblinking.

"Honey?" I asked softly. "How are you?"

He looked at me slowly, his gaze far away. "I have a sister." He said again. Suddenly he looked so lost and confused.

My poor Fifty.

I wrapped my arms around him and held him tightly, unsure of how I could help exactly.

We pulled up to the house and I looked at him.

"Everything is going to be fine." I told him softly. He looked at me but didn't answer. My door opened and Luke stood, waiting for me to get out. I unbuckled my seatbelt and slid out, grabbing my things. Christian got out as well and I took his hand. "I promise." I whispered. "We'll get through all this."

Before he could say anything the front door burst open. I looked up surprised to see Phoebe running out towards us.

"This time you've gone way too far daddy!" She screamed.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

"How on earth am I supposed to have a normal life when I have my own SWAT team following me to school?" Phoebe screeched, pacing the living room. Ella and Teddy were sitting silently, both nodding in agreement. My hand was wrapped tightly around Christian's knowing fully that he could snap at any moment.

"Phoebe honey calm down." I urged.

"I will not calm down!" She screamed. "Do you know they stopped class to sweep the room? Do you know how embarrassed I was when dad's security team was feeling up Tony Silverman? He is the hottest guy in my grade and dad's men practically violated him!" She said storming around. I flinched. It had been the same boy that had asked her out earlier this week. Suddenly her anger seemed a little more justified. "There is no way anyone is going to talk to me after today!" She cried dramatically.

I turned to Christian who was trying to take deep breaths. I bit my lip and turned back to my screaming daughter.

"Phoebe!" I said loudly. "Stop." I didn't like to yell, but my patience was wearing thin. I was worried about Christian, and Phoebe's endless ranting was not helping. "I understand you are embarrassed but I'm sorry young lady, this is how things are going to be for right now." I said sternly. "Your father and I have very good reasons for this and we will explain it to you guys when the time is right. Now until then I need you three to be understanding and cooperative and considerate is that understood?" I snapped. Phoebe stared at me in shock. All my kids did. They were usually getting this lecture from Christian, never from me.

"Are we in trouble?" Ella asked with wide eyes. I looked over at her and gave her a gentle smile.

"No sweetie. We're just being safe." I soothed. She nodded but Teddy looked weary. He didn't say anything though. "Now, if everything is cleared up, your dad and I need to work." I said quietly. The kids nodded and I led a still very silent Christian upstairs to his study. I was worried about him. He usually could gather himself together a lot faster than this.

I sat him down on his chair and perched myself on his desk.

"Talk to me." I urged. He looked up at me, his gray eyes storming.

"I need to tell Katarina." He said finally. "We also need to figure out more about Black. If really does intend on coming after her, he may be upturning a lot of rocks. I don't want him coming anywhere near our family." He said quietly. I took a deep breath.

"Okay, so what do we do first?" I asked. Christian gave me a weak smile.

"I'll call Katarina. Schedule a meeting with her. I've gotten her a place in Seattle, gave her a cell phone and 24 hour security. She should be safe." He said mostly to himself. I nodded expecting as much.

"Do you want to tell the kids?" I asked. He looked at me a long moment before shaking his head.

"No. I want to keep her at arms distance for now. I'm still not sure I trust her." He said slowly. I nodded.

"I understand." I said quietly. "Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, wanting to lift some of my husband's worry. He smiled sadly at me.

"Being here helps." He said taking my hands in his. "I love you Ana."

I smiled back at him. "I love you too Christian."

…

That evening at dinner, Phoebe was silent. I could tell she was still pouting about me yelling at her earlier, and though I felt bad about it couldn't take it back now.

Between Phoebe, Christian and Teddy, the table was almost unbearably quite. I ended up talking to Ella, the only one who would respond to any of my questions.

About halfway through dinner though, I could see her losing steam. She was running out of things to talk about and so was I. I looked at Christian helplessly but he wasn't looking at me. He was staring at his plate, a deep frown grooved into his forehead. I frowned, wishing there was some way I could help him, but eventually gave up, looking at my plate in defeat. The rest of dinner was silent.

…

I tried to get some work done after dinner, but it was pointless. My mind was so completely focused on Christian and our family. I was nervous for him, nervous for us. I had no idea what the future held and for a moment, the paralyzing fear of the unknown gripped me.

I shook it off as fast as possible, but I could still feel it, a shadow in the back of my mind. Something was coming.

Pushing away from my desk, I stood up and stretched. I wouldn't get any more work done tonight.

I walked out of the office and down the hall. I stopped outside of Ella's room and knocked gently. When she didn't answer, I poked my head in. She wasn't inside.

Frowning, I went to Phoebe's room. She too wasn't there. Panic swept me before I could think better of it and I bit my tongue, not wanting to call wolf just yet. I headed to Teddy's room and paused when I heard voices behind the door.

"What the heck is wrong with them? Mom never takes dad's side with stuff like this!" Phoebe cried.

"Maybe someone wants to hurt us." Ella offered. My heart broke a little to hear her say that. That that scenario was even remotely possible distressed me.

"Or maybe they want to make us prisoners. Make school so unbearable that we beg to stay home. I bet dad would love that." Phoebe snapped. She was still really angry.

"Phe calm down." Teddy's voice was cool and strong. "Mom and dad do what's best for us, that's always what they've done because they love us. Remember the time they cancelled their trip to Spain to stay home and take care of you when you got the chicken pox?" Teddy asked. "Or when dad blew off that huge contract just pick you up from school when you'd had a really bad day?" Teddy continued. "We are lucky our parents care enough to do stuff like that for us. Think about your friend's parents. How many of them are still married?" He asked. The girls were silent. "Whatever's going on, they have their reasons. I can think of worse things happening than your parents being a little over protective." He said quietly. I moved away from the door with tears in my eyes. I wanted to be able to hold my children and tell them everything was going to be alright, that nothing could hurt them ever and we were all going to live happily ever after.

I couldn't though and that pissed me off. Someone was now threatening my family and anger coursed through me. Striding down the hall I made my way back to my study and grabbed my cell phone. Scrolling through recent calls, I selected the number and pressed send.

He answered on the second ring. "Ana what can I do for you?"

I paced away from my desk, feeling tension built up in me. "Hi Claude. I was wondering if we could schedule something as soon as possible." I said in aggravation. I needed an outlet.

"I'm free in twenty minutes if it's not too late for you." He offered. I smiled.

"Sounds great. See you then."

I snapped the phone shut and walked back out. I made my way to Christian's office where he was on the phone.

"No Andrea, I'm not going out of town. Have Ros go." He paused a moment. "No I don't care that the Japanese asked for me. I'm not leaving Seattle is that understood?" He waited a moment then nodded. "Good." He snapped and hung up the call, tossing his phone onto the desk before looking up at me.

"Claude is coming over." I told him quietly.

"Why?" Christian asked surprised. I shrugged and rolled my shoulders.

"I need to work off my tension. It's been kind of a stressful day." I whispered. He gazed at me and nodded.

"I understand that. Perhaps I'll join you if it's alright." He said rolling his own shoulders. I nodded.

"Of course." I said smiling softly at him. He gave me the ghost of a smile. "Oh and Honey," I paused, unsure if now was the right time to be asking. He watched me expectantly. "Can I get Katarina's new number? I want to have lunch with her if it's alright with you." I said slowly. He frowned.

"Why do you want to have lunch?" He asked softly. I smiled at him.

"Because she's a lonely, scared young woman and she sort of reminds me of someone I love very much and I want to help her." I said coming into the room and sitting on his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and smiled sadly.

"She is very much like me isn't she?" He mused. I nodded and ran my hands through his hair.

"I won't meet with her if you don't want me to." I told him quietly. Usually I'd be doing whatever I felt was right, whether or not he agreed, but not this time. This time was different. He realized it too.

"You sure are careful to consider what I want." He observed eyeing me. I smiled at him.

"This is new ground for us Christian. She is your family. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want you to do. If you don't want her to be part of our lives, then so be it. I'm letting you call the shots on this one." I insisted. He looked at me with wide eyes and I couldn't help but notice how vulnerable he looked. Fifty, my beautiful Fifty.

I leaned in to him and kissed the corner of his mouth, then trailed the kisses to his jaw. His breathing changed and he shifted so that I was closer to him. I knew exactly where this was going and I pulled away before it could get there.

Christian growled and I smiled kissing him chastely.

"Claude will be here soon." I said hopping up from his lap. Christian groaned.

"I wish you had seen me before calling him. We could have worked off all our tension together without him." He said smiling wickedly at me. I blushed lightly.

"Perhaps after Claude has left." I said winking at him. He smirked and I turned toward our room to get changed.

…

When I first started working out with Claude, I'd been expressly forbidden from learning how to box or kick box or anything else that could hurt me.

Eventually I wore Christian down and finally got him to concede to let Claude teach me how to kick box. I was horrible at it at first and for the first year I got my ass kicked constantly, but I loved the challenge. I'd been kick boxing with him for years now and while I don't think I could ever really take him on, I could hold my own just fine now.

Christian stood just outside the ring, his arms folded over his chest as Claude and I sparred.

"Good Ana, you're still dropping your left arm though." He said soon as we stopped. I took a deep breath and nodded, walking over to my bottle of water. "Come on Grey. You're next." Claude said grinning. I switched places with Christian and he rolled his shoulders smiling at Claude. I watched them spar a few minutes before deciding to do some stretching.

I was in the middle of reaching down to my toes when Christian came up behind me, grabbing my hips.

"Mrs. Grey, are you trying to distract me?" He growled. I looked up at him, still bent over and smirked.

"Mr. Grey it's not my fault you cannot focus." I said smiling sweetly at him. Claude laughed.

"Well I'm out of here. I'll let you two finish your workout." He said with a wink. I thanked him from my stretch and watched him leave the room. I stood up and Christian smiled wickedly at me.

"What do you say Mrs. Grey, are you up for another work out?" He asked darkly. I smiled at him.

"Only if you think you can keep up with me Mr. Grey."

…

I was spent. I was so beyond spent I was a puddle. Christian had his hands wrapped around me and one of his fingers was tracing invisible designs on my stomach. Bliss.

"Yes." He said startling me. I looked up at him and frowned.

"Yes what?" I asked.

"Yes I want Katarina to be a part of our lives." He said softly. I shifted so I could look at him clearer.

"Are you sure?" I asked. He nodded, his hand stilling on me.

"She is family. I can't turn my back on that." He said quietly. I stared at him. "I don't want to announce it to the public yet. I don't want to get Black's attention, but maybe we can tell my parents and the kids. I know what it's like to feel alone in this world. I don't want Katarina to have to go through that." He continued. I reached up to kiss him.

"You're such a good man Christian." I whispered. He shut his eyes.

"Sometimes I have to disagree." He admitted. I didn't say anything to that. I knew that he sometimes still had issues with himself. No matter how many times I told him, there were just something's he'd have to figure out on his own. I hugged him tighter and he kissed me.

"I'll arrange for you to have lunch with her tomorrow if that's what you'd like." He said.

"Would you care to join us?" I offered. He hesitated.

"Would you mind?" He asked surprised. I smiled at him.

"Of course not baby." I said kissing his chin. He gave me a small smile.

"Alright, then I will join you." He said nodding. I smiled and snuggled into his chest.

"Good." I whispered. I thought I heard him sigh, but I was too sleepy to tell. The last thing I heard before falling asleep was Christian Grey telling me he loved me.

…

The restaurant was small and quiet despite the lunch hour. Christian sat next to me, holding my hand above the table. We were waiting for Katarina.

She came in, exactly at noon and made her way over to us through the small restaurant. "Good afternoon, Ana, Christian." She hesitated over his name. She probably wanted to call him Mr. Grey. She seemed much more comfortable with formality.

"Good afternoon Katarina." Christian said, just as stiffly. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes at him and turned to her. I gave her a brilliant smile.

"You said I could call you Kat?" I asked. She smiled at me.

"Yes of course." She said nodding. I grinned.

"It's so good to see you Kat. You look well." And she did. Her hair had been cut and styled, she wore make up and she was now dressed in clean, smart clothes. A pair of nice jeans and a beautiful magenta blouse that looked stunning on her. She cleaned up impeccably. But of course she would, she was Christian's sister.

"Thank you. I have to credit you both for it though. Thank you for the clothes and the apartment and everything, it is really too much." She insisted.

"It's not a problem." Christian said waving his hand. She smiled at him hesitantly and he returned the act.

The waiter came then and took our orders, dashing off just as quickly to fill them. I sat up in my chair and leaned forward.

"So Kat, tell me about yourself." I urged. She looked surprised.

"Uh, like what?" She asked slowly.

"You grew up in Detroit?" I asked. She stiffened a bit then nodded and looked down at the table.

"Yeah, I'd been there my whole life." She said stiffly. I nodded.

"Are you in college?" I asked, trying to find a safe subject.

"No I haven't had the time or money." She said quietly. I nodded understanding. "I would like to go one day though. I want to study child development and child psychology." She explained.

"What do you want to do with that degree?" Christian asked. I smiled at him.

"Ultimately? I want to start a youth center. I know how it is growing up without anywhere to go. I want to make a safe haven for kids, maybe even take in foster kids. I don't know how, but I know I need to help."

I was moved by her words and I could see Christian was too. She was so young, so passionate and her words held so much conviction. I knew that if that was what she wanted, she would have no trouble at all meeting that goal.

"You seem very passionate." Christian said after a moment.

"I am." She said looking at him. He held her gaze for a long minute before the waiter came over and interrupted, serving us drinks.

"Do you drink?" Christian asked offering her a glass of wine. She nodded and the waiter poured her a glass. "Do you smoke?" Christian asked. I looked sharply at him, knowing where this was headed, but he ignored me. Kat shook her head.

"I don't drink much, just enough to enjoy the alcohol. I don't smoke, I don't do drugs. I refuse to loose control like that. I've seen how it messes people up and I won't tolerate it in my life." She said firmly. Christian sat back impressed.

"So Kat, what do you do for fun?" I asked steering the conversation back. She looked at me.

"I'm sorry Ana but fun isn't really in my priorities. Survival comes first and that usually takes up most of my time." She said stiffly. I frowned. This poor girl. It was clear she had had a tough life. The need to help her came back in me and I shifted in my seat.

"Katarina, Ana and I were wondering if you would like to meet our children." Christian said surprising us all. Kat's eyes grew wide and she stared at us in surprise.

"Oh." She said quietly. "I'm sorry, you've taken me quite by surprise. I honestly didn't expect to be taken in like this." She said softly. Christian remained silent. "I don't know what to say." She said finally.

"We don't want to pressure you into anything." I said giving her a reassuring smile. "It's just a thought. If you're not comfortable with it," I said sending a look at Christian. He shrugged lightly but his expression didn't change.

"No I would love to meet them, but would they want to meet me?" She asked. I smiled.

"I'm sure they would love it." I said nodding. She looked to Christian. He nodded finally and smiled.

"Yes I think they would." He said sitting up straighter. Kat smiled hesitantly at us and the waiter brought over our food. He offered Kat pepper on her salad and she held out her hand to him. He frowned at her, unsure of what she was asking. Finally he handed her the sleek black pepper mill he was holding and she turned to her plate, grating it over her salad. I watched in fascination. She stopped abruptly and handed the mill back to the dumbfounded waiter. She turned back to us and the waiter scurried off.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make things awkward." She said noting our confusion. "I like to control things in my life. Even down to the seasonings on my food. It helps me." She said quietly. I looked at her in surprise then looked to Christian. He was watching her with a look I couldn't quite decipher.

"It's alright." I said turning to Kat. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile before picking up her fork and taking a calculated bite of her salad. I turned to my own dish feeling overwhelmed. I busied myself with rearranging the items on my plate, trying to hide how shaken I was.

Christian and Kat spoke quietly about this and that, mostly Christian's business. I still hadn't managed to eat anything because my stomach was coiled in such tight knots.

"Ana." Christian's voice startled me out of my thoughts and I looked up at him.

"Sorry what?" I asked sitting up and blushing slightly at being caught not paying attention. Christian just frowned at me.

"You haven't eaten anything." He said glaring at my plate. I sighed and looked down at my small plate of pasta.

"I'm not very hungry." I whispered. I looked at Christian's face and saw it cloud over and I smiled at him. "I'll take it with me to go and finish it at the office." I said quickly, trying to subdue him. He sat back and pursed his lips slightly, but didn't say anything so I took that as a win.

We finished lunch shortly after, and when our waiter brought back my uneaten pasta in a small box; Christian gave me a pointed look. I resisted rolling my eyes at him, but he raised an eyebrow at me and his lip twitched in a suppressed smile. It was a look that told me he knew exactly what I was thinking and I couldn't help but smile at him.

We walked Kat back outside to the car that was waiting for her, saying we'd talk to the kids then schedule a day for her to come over and meet them.

I felt anxious at even the thought of the conversation we had to have with the kids, but Christian seemed quite confident in the decision so I kept my opinion to myself.

After Kat drove away with her security detail, promising to stay inconspicuous, Christian and I got into the black SUV that Taylor was driving.

"Home Taylor." Christian ordered. I turned to look at him.

"I have to go to work." I said frowning. Christian shook his head.

"We're going to go home." He said nodding his head stubbornly. I scowled.

"No, you can go home. I have to go to work. I have a meeting later and I have a ton of work I have been neglecting." I said making sure Taylor heard me. He gave a slight nod and I turned my attention back to Christian who was scowling as well.

"I want you to come home with me Ana." He said stiffly.

"And I will Christian, but after I go to work." I said patting his arm.

"Why do you want to work?" He asked, his annoyance slipping through his usually very firm control. I sighed.

"Honey we are not having this fight again." I said looking down at my hands that were resting on my crossed knees.

"Ana," He started.

"No Christian. I'm sorry. We have been having this fight for 18 years. I want to work. One day I'll want to retire, but I'm not even 40 yet." I said looking up at him. "If I stop working now, what the hell am I going to do for the rest of my life?" I asked looking up at him.

"Whatever you want baby. You know that." He said sincerely. I smirked.

"Okay, then I want to work."

He glared at me and I took a deep breath, looking out the window as gray Seattle passed us by.

Christian let the subject drop, thank God. I didn't want to fight more about it. We'd been talking in circles about the same subject for 18 years, and I suspected that in 18 years, we'd still be doing it. It was just how we were; two incredibly stubborn people, neither willing to cave.

When we pulled up in front of the office, I turned to Christian. He was staring at me with an expression I couldn't decipher.

"Hey." I said quietly, reaching out to take his hand. He let me, though he didn't say anything. "Don't be mad baby. I'll see you tonight alright?" I asked leaning over to kiss him. He responded exactly how I was hoping he would and wrapped his arms around me, brining me to him and kissing me hard.

"Sometimes you drive me mad Anastasia Grey." He growled against my lips. I giggled.

"You love it." I said kissing him again. He let out a sound that was something between a laugh and groan. "I'll see you after work." I promised pulling away. He nodded and sighed.

"We'll pick you up." He said firmly. I smiled and gave him one last kiss.

"Good. Have a good day Honey." I said sliding out of the car.

"You too baby." He called.

…

True to his word, Christian and Taylor were waiting for me outside the office at five o'clock. Christian was leaning against the side of the car, talking on his phone while Taylor hovered a few feet away, scoping the area. I smiled when I saw my husband and rushed out of the lobby toward him. Despite my insistence to go to work earlier, as soon as we had parted, I had regretted not taking Christian up on his offer to go home. I usually prided myself in being strong and independent, even with Christian, but the past week had shot me through the ringer and I had found myself wanting constantly to be at Christian's side. I wasn't sure if it was because I was seeking his comfort and protection, or because I wanted to be his comfort and protection.

Either way it had been a miserable couple of hours at work.

Christian looked up as I exited the office and smiled, hanging up his phone call. I launched myself at him as soon as I was close enough, and wrapped my body around his, as much as my tight dress would allow. He wrapped his arms around me and laughed, giving into my kisses.

"Why Mrs. Grey, it appears that you have missed me." He said smiling at me. I rolled my eyes at him.

"I always miss you Christian." I said hugging him tighter to me. His eyes grew a little darker and he frowned.

"Are you okay baby?" He asked softly. I nodded and buried my face in his neck.

"I'm just glad it's the weekend." I whispered against him. He nodded and held me to his chest a moment before he beckoned me into the car.

"Come on I have a surprise for you." He whispered. I looked at him surprised.

"What kind of surprise?" I asked following him into the back seat. He just smiled at me.

"You'll see."

…

As soon as I realized we were headed to Escala my body started humming deliciously. We'd kept the apartment in the city for weekend getaways or a place to stay when we had a late event. Mostly though, we'd kept it around as a place to play. After deciding not to put a playroom in the big house because of the kids, Christian and I had been coming back to Escala, our own little oasis for some fun.

We used to make it a weekly thing to visit Escala, even if it wasn't overnight, but because of our busy schedules of late, we hadn't had time to go back in a few weeks. I could see Christian was looking forward to it just as much as I was.

As soon as we were inside the elevator, Christian and I turned and looked at each other.

"Remember when I took you right here?" Christian asked giving me a gorgeous smile, full of desire. I smiled up at him.

"Which time?" I asked biting my lip. He watched my lips and his eyes darkened.

"Oh Anastasia." He growled. "I'm not sure I'm going to be able to wait." He said reaching toward me.

"My thoughts exactly Mr. Grey." I said, stopping the elevator. Christian smiled at me and at the same time, we both attacked each other, as if drawn together. Christian's body shoved me into the wall of the elevator and I groaned into him. After the week we both had, this is exactly what we needed, time to be us. Not parents, not CEO's, just Christian and Ana, two people who were hopelessly in love with each other, even after nearly twenty years.

"I love you Christian." I groaned against my beautiful husband.

"Oh how I love you Ana."


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm posting early because this weekend I'm moving house and won't have internet for some time. Enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

My body was stiff in a very, very good way. I was practicing some deep breathing, Clarice, my yoga instructor had taught me. I wasn't that great at yoga, but I loved doing it and had been trying it out for a few months now. I had tried to get Christian to do it with me, but after one lesson where he had pounced on me as soon as I bent over, we had decided it probably wasn't going to happen.

It was a beautiful May day in Seattle and the sun was out, making the city glitter at my feet.

We'd stayed the night at Escala, both being too exhausted to go home after the night we'd had. The kids were supposed to be coming over any moment and I glanced at my watch, noting that it was just a little after seven in the morning. I bent down into another stretch, enjoying the pull of my muscles as I practiced yoga out on the balcony. Inside the apartment, I could hear Christian talking on the phone, sorting through issues at work. I probably should have been doing the same, but I couldn't bother to pick up the phone and work this early in the morning.

So instead, I stretched.

"Yeah make sure Ros gets it. No, she knows what to do with it. Yeah, okay bye." Christian's voice was getting louder and I peaked up from where I was bent over to see him approach the glass door to the balcony. He was watching me with desire clear on his face. I smiled at him upside down.

"Everything okay at work?" I asked from my stretch. Christian stalked toward me, a predatory gleam in his eyes and I felt my body shiver deliciously.

"You are so beautiful Anastasia." He said reaching my hips and pulling them to him. He reached down to wrap his arms around my upper body and brought me up with him, his hands running across my body.

I was nearly a puddle of goo by the time he turned me to look at him.

"I'm so in love with you." He said brushing my hair behind my ears. I smiled at him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"That's good, because I'm so in love with you too." I whispered, reaching up to kiss him.

As most of our kisses did, it went from chaste to steaming in seconds and in a moment, Christian had me pressed up the glass window as we devoured each other.

"Let's have another baby."

Christian's whispered words caught me so off guard I pulled away from him in shock. He pulled back a bit, his dark eyes staring into mine.

"What?" I asked startled.

"You heard me." He whispered, placing a gentle kiss behind my ear. I shivered. "Let's do it."

We hadn't really talked about having more kids after Ella. We had both decided to focus on the three amazing kids we had and the careers we wanted to pursue further. It had been almost nine years since we'd talked about having more kids and I could feel my head spinning with the sudden topic.

Before I could answer him, the door opened and I could hear the kids as they came into the apartment.

"Mom? Dad?"

I looked at Christian who hadn't let go of me yet.

"Hey guys." I called turning away from his burning gaze and slipping out of his arms. I walked inside and smiled at my children.

"Hi how was your gala last night?" Phoebe asked hugging me. I flinched at the mention of the imaginary gala Christian and I had said we'd be attending. I hated lying to the kids, but I couldn't tell them we were staying in Escala to have amazing kinky sex all night.

"Oh you know." I said waving my hand vaguely. Phoebe nodded, satisfied with my answer. I smiled at her and pulled Ella into a hug. "How are you?" I asked them.

"Ugh, Dana Fairchild tried to start another rumor about me yesterday." Phoebe said before anyone else could answer. I smiled at her and headed to the kitchen to start breakfast and she followed, talking about the drama that surrounded her at school.

Teddy plopped down on the sofa with Christian and Ella watched the two separate groups before following Teddy and crawling onto the sofa into Christian's lap. I couldn't blame her. Phoebe was notorious for ranting for hours on end. I had no idea where she got it from but once she started, she had a difficult time stopping.

I pulled out ingredients for breakfast and got to work as Phoebe settled at the breakfast bar and kept ranting.

"Honestly, you'd think she knew not to mess with me by now, but oh no. Dana is so stupid. I have no idea why people listen to her." Phoebe said bitterly. I humored my daughter with a slight smile to show her I was in agreement with her. To be honest, most of the time I couldn't keep up with who was who in her stories.

I worked quickly, but it still took some time to make eggs benedict for five. When I had finished, Phoebe was still talking. I smiled at her and interrupted her story to ask her to fetch the rest of our family. She nodded and slid off the stool, talking as she left to get her father and siblings. I smiled to myself and brought the plates to the rarely used dining table. I set it quickly and smiled at my family as they came over and took seats.

Christian caught my eye and I knew that he was looking for an answer to his question. I still couldn't believe he'd asked me that. Another child? I was going to be 40 this year. What the hell was he thinking? I'd be at least 58 by the time the child in question would be ready to move out, and that sounded just too old to me. I wanted to be young enough to enjoy our empty nest when it finally happened. Having a child now would just prolong that another 18 years at least.

"Kids, your mom and I have something really important to tell you about." Christian said snapping me out of my thoughts. My head whipped up and I stared at him with wide eyes. Was he going to bring up another baby to the kids? We hadn't even talked about it!

I could feel myself starting to panic and I quickly prepared to stop the conversation when Christian continued. "Recently we found out that I have a biological half sister." He announced.

My panic subsided, and in it's place anxiety rose to a new level. Jesus he wasn't wasting any time with this.

I looked around the table at my children as they stared at him in shock. I wasn't surprised. He never mentioned his biological family to them, ever. I wasn't even sure if they knew he was adopted or not.

"What?" Teddy finally asked, breaking the silence. Christian nodded.

"Her name is Katarina Reid and she is 21 years old." He said slowly.

"We have another aunty?" Ella asked smiling. I took her hand and gave her a small smile.

"Yes." I said quietly.

"Is she nice?" Ella asked. I nodded but looked to Christian.

"She is. Would you like to meet her?" He asked. The kids stared at him in shock.

"No."

We all looked at Phoebe who had sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, shaking her head.

"Excuse me?" Christian asked, more surprised than angry.

"I said no. You never talk about your past. Whenever anyone brings it up, you get pissed. If this woman is from that past, I don't want her around us. It's just going to make you angry." She reasoned. Christian stared at her, obviously surprised. I reached out to Phoebe and took her hand.

"Honey, it's okay that you feel like that. It's a bit scary for all of us. But this is your father's sister. Wouldn't you like to at least meet her?" I asked gently. Phoebe didn't say anything.

"Who knows about her?" Teddy asked Christian. My husband shook his head.

"No one. So please don't tell anyone about her." He said quietly. The kids nodded, though Ella looked confused.

"Not even grandma and grandpa?" She asked. Christian shook his head.

"Not even them. It's very important that no one knows about her right now, alright?" He asked. The kids nodded again.

"Then why are you telling us?" Phoebe asked.

"Because we don't want to lie to you guys." Christian said giving her a gentle smile. She melted, a little under his gaze and sighed. Her resolve was wavering.

"What does she want?" Teddy asked frowning. Christian sent him a look but didn't answer him.

"So what do you think? Do you guys want to meet her?" I asked trying to steer the conversation back. The kids glanced at each other.

"Can we think about it?" Ella asked.

"Of course you can sweetie." I said smiling at her. She grinned back at me and turned to her food. Teddy and Phoebe both glanced at each other then turned to their breakfast. I looked up at Christian who was watching me silently. I gave him a slight smile and turned to my breakfast, hoping for a distraction from his burning gaze.

The rest of breakfast passed with easy conversation, free of topics such as long lost siblings and babies.

We spent the rest of the day together as a family. Teddy had a soccer match that afternoon and Ray came down to watch it, like he did with every one of Teddy's games. Ray had been ecstatic to hear that his grandson was interested in the sport and had insisted on being there for him. Christian, who would not be outdone by anyone, had made it a family rule that we all attended Teddy's games, as well as the games Phoebe cheered at and all of Ella's recitals. It had been a strict rule with few exceptions and I was grateful for it. Though it was stressful sometimes, it kept us together, kept us close.

So that afternoon we all headed down to the school to watch Teddy play. Ray was already there when we arrived and I smiled at him as soon as I spotted him sitting in the still empty bleachers.

"Hey dad!" I said as we approached him.

"Annie!" He said standing and pulling me into a hug. "Christian how are you guys?" He asked shaking Christian's hand. Christian gave him a small smile.

"We're fine dad." I said for the both of us. He nodded and turned to the girls.

"How about you two?" He asked pulling them into hugs.

"We're good Grandpa." Ella giggled.

"Good, good." He said settling back down on the bleachers. I took Christian's hand in mine and sat down next to Phoebe. No matter how many games we went to, I never got used to seeing Christian here in this environment. High school clashed so much with who he was.

Christian turned to me and smirked, catching me staring at him. "Want to go make out under the bleachers?" He whispered. I blushed despite myself and giggled.

"What are we teenagers?" I giggled. Christian's eyes grew darker.

"We can pretend." He said kissing me gently. I smiled against him.

"You would never have given me a second glance in high school. I was so mousy." I said shaking my head. Christian shrugged.

"I would have noticed you. You would have hated me though. I was so angry." He said quietly.

"Well maybe I could have helped with that." I said kissing him softly. His eyes grew dark and we both shifted uncomfortably. I couldn't believe I'd just said that. It wasn't me who had been there to help with his anger in high school. It had been Her.

I scrambled to steer the conversation back to safe grounds before things got strained.

"I'd love to make out with you under the bleachers but first I think we should at least pretend to watch our son play." I said smiling up at him. He looked down at me and smiled, letting the frown fall away. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, kissing my hair.

"I'll hold you to that Mrs. Grey." He whispered. I smiled and wrapped my arm around his waist, perfectly content.

Christian made it all of twelve minutes into the game before he stood up briskly, bringing me up with him. "Ray can you watch the girls? Ana and I are going to get some snacks. Do you want anything?" He asked quickly.

The girls, who were used to Christian's abruptness, shouted out orders while Ray fumbled for words.

"Uh, just a diet coke." He said finally. Christian nodded and pulled me along behind him as we made our way down the bleachers. The stadium was cement and so we couldn't actually make out under the seats, but Christian didn't seem to mind. Finding a quiet corner, he pulled me into it and pressed me back into the wall.

In an instant our hands were all over each other, desperate. I couldn't believe how insatiable my appetite for this man was. I had expected it to ease up at some point, but it never did. If anything, I wanted him more than ever.

"Mmm Ana. If I'd known you in high school, I might of actually enjoyed the experience." He said kissing his way down to my neck. My breathing hitched and I giggled.

"And If I had known you in high school, I can guarantee you we would have had Teddy much much younger than we did." I giggled. Christian grinned against my skin.

"That would have been fine by me." He insisted. His words reminded me of his question earlier and I pulled away to look at him. He looked surprised by my movement.

"Were you serious this morning?" I asked holding his face in my hands so I could look at him clearly. Immediately he knew what I was talking about.

"Yes." He said quietly. I stared at him, unsure.

"What brought that on?" I asked finally. He sighed and lifted one shoulder in a shrug.

"I just," He paused and smiled. "I love seeing you pregnant. You're so beautiful and you glow." He said kissing my neck. "It makes me feel so amazing that it's my child that you're carrying around." He said possessively. I leaned my head back; giving him more access as I let his words wash over me.

"Yeah but Honey, I'm almost 40. You're going to be 47 soon. You really want to start over?" I asked quietly. He pulled away and looked at me, his face twisted in thought. "That's adding another 18 years until it's just you and me again." I whispered. He considered my words.

"I don't care." He said finally. I was surprised. It seemed that he really wanted another child.

I leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Let me think about it, okay?" I asked softly. He nodded, pacified with my temporary answer, and wound his arms around me tighter.

"Come on, let's go get the snacks for everyone." He said pulling me into his side. I wrapped my arm around his waist and ducked under his protective arm, happy to be by his side.

"Ana?"

I looked up from the snack table surprised. Sure I knew a few parents at the school, but not many. Not enough to be recognized frequently. I spotted the woman walking toward me. She had gorgeous blond hair that was wrapped perfectly in a stylish French twist and she was tailored down to her delicate set of pearls around her neck. She looked perfect and I gave her a small smile.

"Missy." I said trying to sound more enthusiastic than I felt.

"Ana darling it's so great to see you! It's been ages!" She insisted, pulling me into a small hug and kissing my cheeks when she was close enough. I smiled awkwardly.

"Yes I suppose it has been." I said stepping back from her. "You've met my husband right?" I asked gesturing to Christian. Missy eyed him appreciatively.

"I don't think I've had the pleasure." She purred. I would have been itching with jealousy and possessiveness, but that was just Missy. She hit on everyone, married and unmarried alike.

"It's nice to meet you." Christian said coolly. She nodded to him and smiled.

"So was it you two I saw making out under the bleachers?" She asked giving me a wink. I blushed and bit my lip.

"Absolutely." Christian said, turning me even redder. Missy laughed.

"How exciting! Ah I do so love to see couples still obsessed with each other." She said wistfully.

"How are you?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation away from Christian and me.

"Oh you know." She said waving her hands around. "With Andy going to Brown next year we've been scrambling to make sure he's ready for the move." She said referring to her son who was Teddy's age. "And of course Paul is a typical 15 year old. Kill me now!" She joked. I smiled at her. "How are your kids? Where is Teddy headed next year?" She asked.

"Harvard." I said proudly. She beamed.

"Wow! How incredible! He's a bright boy, your son!" She insisted. I smiled and glanced at Christian.

"Just like his father."

Christian frowned at me, but didn't say anything. Missy kept talking.

"I can't wait until Andy goes to college. He's driving me mad!" She said dramatically. "Honestly, the day can't come soon enough. Of course I love him, but I think our relationship works better if he's on the other side of the country." She said. I shifted uncomfortably. That was the thing I never understood. All the moms I' had met had been so excited for their kids to leave. I couldn't be dreading it more.

"Missy it was so great to see you, but we have to get back to our kids." I said turning to Christian. He nodded and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me to him.

"Of course darling, of course." She said coming over to kiss my cheeks. "We must do lunch soon. Call me!" She insisted as we started away. I waved to her in acknowledgement and turned to Christian.

"She was horrible." He said frowning. I smiled at him.

"And she's one of the parents I can stand at this school."

Christian gave me a look that made me laugh and I wrapped my arms around his torso, stopping our movement. He looked down at me, surprised.

"I love you." I said reaching up to kiss him. He smiled and pulled me closer.

"I love you too baby."

…

We had dinner with Ray that evening after Teddy's game. His team had won and though it was a team sport, Christian and Ray both insisted it was because of Teddy they'd dominated.

Teddy, who had developed a healthy amount of modesty, had accepted the accolades but had given the victory to the team.

We did dinner at Dahlia's restaurant on 4th. While Dahlia's had some amazing food, it was their donuts that we all went for. In my opinion, they were the best donuts on the west coast, trumping the extremely popular Voodoo donuts of Portland. I couldn't get enough of them.

When we were in the car on the way back home, Phoebe spoke up, demanding our attention.

"Okay." She said. All conversation stopped and we looked at her quizzically.

"Okay?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'll meet your sister." She said to Christian. Teddy and Ella glanced at each other and Christian's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Are you sure?" He asked glancing at her in the rearview mirror. Phoebe nodded, her red hair bouncing around her. I looked to my other two children who both nodded.

"I'm on board." Teddy said softly. Ella smiled.

"Me too."

I looked to Christian who was watching the road, a look on his face I couldn't quite figure out.

"Babe?" I asked placing my hand on his arm. He glanced at me.

"I'll call Katarina when we get home." He said quietly. The car was silent and I turned to the kids to give them a reassuring smile.

We got back to the house and the kids piled out of the car. I slid out and waited for Christian to come around. I wove my fingers through his and gave him a small smile.

"Are you sure about this honey?" I asked looking up at him. He nodded, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah, this is important." He said softly. I smiled at him and reached up to pat his cheek.

"You're very brave." I whispered. He gave me a sarcastic look before kissing me gently.

"You make me that way." He said against my lips. I smiled and pulled him inside. "I'm going to make a phone call." He said slipping away. I nodded and walked into the den where the kids were gathered around the TV. Kicking off my shoes, I crawled onto the sofa and curled up with Phoebe. Ella was tucked into Teddy's side and it warmed my heart to see.

Christian came in a few minutes later and I sat up, eager to talk to him. I followed him into the kitchen and watched as he poured us glasses of wine.

"We're going to meet her tomorrow. She'll come round for brunch at 11." He said handing me a glass. I took it and nodded.

"Sounds like everything is set." I said quietly. He nodded, eyeing me over his wine. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

He ignored my question. Instead he took a sip of his wine and then came around the island to wrap an arm around me.

"Come on baby, let's go be with our kids."

He led me out to the den and sat down next to Phoebe who right away curled up into his side. He pulled me into his other side and I smiled at him. He gave me a gentle kiss before turning to the TV. We sat there, all cuddled up as a family while some mindless movie prattled on the TV. I didn't pay much attention to it though. My family was here, and we were safe and I treasured that moment in its entirety.

* * *

**Just a quick note. Dahlia's restaurant on 4th and Virginia is seriously amazing. If you ever get the chance, go get those donuts! They are to die for!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So I'm sorry it's been over a week since my last update. I've been trying to move houses this week so my internet has been out on top of all the other stress. Anyway, please enjoy. :)**

CHAPTER EIGHT

The next morning I was up at the crack of dawn. Christian, who always woke up before me, was still asleep as I slipped out of our room to start brunch. I could feel my anxiety about the day and I hoped that cooking would calm some of it.

I worked silently for about five minutes before giving up and turning on soft music on the overhead speakers. It helped sooth me some, but not much.

"Good morning."

Teddy's low voice startled me and I whirled around, spatula in hand.

"Oh my, you scared me." I said holding a hand over my heart. He smirked and came over to kiss my cheek.

"Sorry." He mumbled, moving on to the coffee maker. He poured himself a cup and took a sip, settling back against the counter.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked quietly, turning back to the breakfast. Teddy gave a half shrug.

"Should I be worried?" He asked me. I looked up at him startled.

"About what Honey?" I asked frowning. Teddy gave me a look that he inherited from his father. It was his 'cut-the-crap' look and I had to bite my lip not to giggle.

"You. Dad. Katarina?" He said slowly, eyeing me over his coffee. I sighed and looked down at the pan. I poked the sizzling bacon and frowned, trying to think of how to answer him.

"I don't know what's going to happen." I said slowly. "But I can promise you that no matter what, your father and I are going to make sure that our family stays together and safe." I said looking up at him. He watched me a long moment, his blue eyes piercing through me. Finally he nodded and set his cup down on the counter.

"What can I do to help?" He asked glancing at me. I smiled at him.

"You can set an example for your sisters." I said quietly. He nodded.

"Of course. I'm going to go shower." He said coming over to pat my arm gently. I smiled at him and reached up to kiss his cheek before he disappeared in the direction of his room. I turned back to the stove and felt my anxiety swell again. Was this the right thing to do?

"I can't believe how mature he is." Christian's voice carried over to me like a lullaby and I looked up at him startled.

"Hey how long have you been up?" I asked as he came over to wrap his arms around me.

"Long enough." He said hugging me from behind and kissing my neck. "Our son is a good man." He said quietly. I nodded.

"He takes after his father." I said glancing up at him. Christian's face remained blank at my compliment.

"Do you think you made enough food?" He asked looking around. I blushed.

"I didn't know what to make. It's a brunch." I said weakly. There were dishes all over the kitchen of foods waiting to be served. Christian chuckled.

"Come on baby, we have just enough time to hop in the shower before Katarina arrives." He whispered seductively. I looked up at him and grinned. I flicked the flame off on the stove and moved the bacon to a dish to keep warm before turning and wrapping myself around him.

"Well let's go shower then."

...

Katarina arrived promptly at 11. Taylor let her into the house while we all waited in the living room. She came in and I could see how nervous she was. She had styled her hair back away from her face and was wearing a soft blue dress and wedge sandals. I could tell from how she was dressed how she was feeling. She wanted to look confident and strong, keeping professional, but she wanted to appear casual as well. It was a difficult look to pull off, but she did it with class.

Christian approached her and held out his hand awkwardly for her to shake. I rolled my eyes at their stiff greeting and moved to bring her into a hug. She relaxed a little when she saw me.

"Hello Kat, thank you so much for coming." I said giving her a gentle smile. She nodded.

"Thank you for having me." She said looking over the kids. I smiled at them, urging them to come closer.

"Kat these are our children, Teddy, Phoebe and Ella."

Kat's eyes snapped up when I said my youngest daughter's name and Christian stiffened. Had Kat known about Christian's biological mother?

"It's nice to meet you all." She said recovering quickly and giving them all smiles. Teddy stepped up and shook her hand.

"You as well Ms. Reid." He said formally. She shifted.

"You can call me Katarina, or Kat if you prefer." She said looking to Christian for permission. He nodded briefly.

No one mentioned anything about calling her aunt.

Kat turned to Phoebe and smiled at her. Phoebe glanced at Teddy who gave her a reassuring nod and Phoebe sighed.

"It's nice to meet you Kat." Phoebe said shaking her hand.

"You too Phoebe. How old are you?" Kat asked. Phoebe shrugged.

"14." She said quietly. I stared at her in surprise. She was acting so, Un-Phoebe. I glanced at Christian to see he too had noticed our daughter's change in behavior.

Kat just smiled at her. "I remember being 14. I had my first kiss when I was 14." She said sending Phoebe a wink. Phoebe grinned at her and then looked at Christian and I pointedly. Christian stiffened but I just rolled my eyes. Kat turned to Ella who was watching her silently.

"And Ella. I really like your name." Kat said quietly. Ella stared at her evenly.

"It's a special name." Ella said after a moment. Kat watched her curiously, but when Ella offered up no more information, Kat turned to us.

"Shall we eat?" I asked, trying to break the settling awkwardness. Everyone nodded and we moved to the dinning room where the food was laid out.

"Oh Ana, you didn't have to do all this." Kat insisted. I shook my head.

"Nonsense. I love cooking. Please sit and eat." I encouraged. She did and soon we were all settled around the table, passing dishes.

The silence eased up slowly, and after fifteen minutes, Kat had won Phoebe over completely. Even Teddy was participating in conversation more than usual. Everyone seemed at ease apart from Ella and Christian. I glanced at the two, but they were both stone faced, impossible to read.

"So Teddy, you're a senior?" Kat asked. Teddy nodded.

"Yeah, I'm graduating in about a month." He said glancing up from his plate. She smiled.

"What are you planning after high school?" She asked.

"I'm going to Harvard." He said shrugging lightly. He made it seem so effortless, getting into Harvard, but I knew how hard he had worked for it.

"Wow, congratulations. That's very impressive." Kat said sincerely. Teddy shrugged modestly.

"He takes after his dad." I said glancing at Christian. Kat looked at him and smiled softly.

"I imagine he takes after both of you." She said looking at me. I blushed at the unexpected compliment.

"All of our children do." Christian said vaguely. Kat nodded.

"Kat do you like to shop?" Phoebe asked. Kat looked over at her and gave her a dazzling smile.

"I do. I've not had very much opportunity in my life to just go shopping, but it is something I enjoy." She confirmed. Phoebe beamed.

"Maybe we could go shopping sometime! Mom hates it and Ella does too." Phoebe's excitement turned to a pout that she sent over to me and I rolled my eyes.

"Phoebe that is a very sweet offer. I think we'd have to make sure it's okay with your parents first though." Kat said looking back at Christian and I.

"Let's play it by ear." I said after a pregnant pause. Kat nodded and I sent her a look, silently thanking her for asking our permission first.

Brunch lasted a good few hours, and Kat stuck around for another hour or so after the meal before heading out. Ella, who had not left her father's side, spoke as absolutely little as possible. I watched her during Kat's stay, curious as to what could be bothering her.

As soon as Kat left, Phoebe let out a long sigh. "She was awesome." Phoebe said grinning. It seemed all the reservations she'd had about meeting Kat had completely disappeared. I was glad and I gave her a small smile.

"I'm so glad you enjoyed meeting her." I told her. Phoebe nodded.

"I didn't think I would, but she was so nice and she's so pretty!" Phoebe continued. I smiled, winding an arm around her shoulders. "Don't you think she's pretty mom?"

I nodded and Phoebe continued ranting about Kat. I think she would have continued to rant endlessly had her phone not rang that exact moment.

I took the moment to escape her side and go and hunt for my other daughter.

Ella was sitting in the backyard on one of the swings we had hung up under a large tree when Teddy was three. She wasn't swinging, more like rocking and letting her toes drag through the dirt bellow her. I wandered over and sank to the swing next to her.

"Hey." I said quietly.

"Hey." She said just as softly, not looking up from her sneakers.

"What's wrong sweetie?" I asked patiently. She shrugged her little shoulders but didn't answer me. "Is this about Katarina?" I asked bending closer to her. Ella nodded, not looking at me. "Can you tell me what you thought of her?" I coaxed. She sighed and looked up at me then. Her big grey eyes were storming with worry and fear.

"I don't trust her mommy."

Her words made my heart stutter and I dropped to the dirt in front of her, stilling her swing. I stared at her a moment before pulling her off the swing and into my arms. She curled up against my chest and I held her, trying to figure out what to say. Words escaped me though, so instead I just held her. I could feel her tears soak through my shirt and my eyes shut in pain.

"I'm sorry mommy." She cried. I rocked her in my arms.

"Baby there is nothing to be sorry about." I said kissing her hair.

"But she's daddy's sister and I know that he wants her to be in our lives but she scares me mommy and I don't want to make you or daddy sad." She sobbed. My heart shattered at her confession.

"Oh my dear sweet girl you listen to me." I said gently. "If you don't like her, then you don't have to see her anymore alright? Daddy and I love you and your siblings more than anything in this world. We would never make you do something that makes you unhappy alright?" I asked hugging her tighter. She continued to cry but nodded her head. I held her to me and tried desperately not to sob. We had done this. We had brought in this threat to our daughter and now she was terrified and unhappy.

We sat there together, me rocking my baby girl in my arms as she cried and clung to me for an immeasurable amount of time. The only thing I was conscious of was that at some point the day had faded to night, but the bright porch lights flickered on, leaving us in a warm glow.

Eventually Christian came outside looking for us. Ella sat up and wiped her eyes at hearing him come outside and I gave her a small smile, kissing her forehead.

"There you two are." Christian said coming over to us. He observed Ella's tear streaked face and my red eyes and was instantly on alert. "What happened? Are you alright? Is everything okay? Are you hurt? What can I do?" He asked dropping to his knees beside us. Ella crawled into his lap and he held her with wide eyes. It used to be near impossible to make him panic, but since we had become parents, whenever any of our kids started crying without any obvious reason, he went into overbearing protective mode.

I would have laughed if I wasn't so sad.

"Ella my love will you tell me what's wrong?" Christian asked tenderly. I thought of the man I had first met. Cold, controlled and completely cut off. I never would have, in a million years been able to imagine him now, tenderly holding our daughter and trying to take away her sadness.

Pride swelled in me for my amazing husband.

"Can mommy tell you?" Ella asked. "I'm really sleepy." She said with a yawn. Christian looked at me and I nodded softly.

"Of course Precious. Let's get you to bed." He said softly. He stood, scooping her in his arms and carried her toward the house. I stood and brushed the dirt from my clothes before following behind him.

When I got inside I glanced at the large clock in the living room. I was stunned to see it was almost nine pm. I guess Ella and I had been sitting out there much longer than I had thought.

Christian took our daughter to her room and after I helped her change into her pajamas, we both tucked her in. I sat down on her bed and leaned over, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Remember what I told you baby." I said gently. She nodded.

"Thanks mommy." She said quietly. She glanced at Christian and I could see she was still worried about upsetting him. I kissed her again.

"It'll be alright honey. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

She nodded and bid us a goodnight before snuggling into her blanket. I turned and left the room behind Christian.

As soon as we were in the hall, he turned on me, his eyes wide.

"What the hell was that?" He demanded. I glared at him.

"Don't snap at me." I growled. "Come on, I don't want to disturb Ella." I said moving away from her room. Christian let out a short, irritated breath but followed behind me. I made my way to the living room and frowned when I realized my other two children weren't around. "Where are Phoebe and Teddy?" I asked.

"Don't change the damn subject Ana." Christian snapped.

"I'm not changing the subject Christian. I'm just wondering where our children are." I snapped back. He glared at me and internally, I had to remind myself that he wasn't actually mad, just worried.

"Teddy is out with friends and Phoebe went to a movie." He said dismissively. I glared at him.

"It's nine pm on a Sunday Christian! They have school tomorrow." I couldn't believe he had let them go out.

"Teddy knows when his curfew is. He'll be back by then." He said indifferently.

"And what about our 14 year old daughter?" I snapped.

"She left a few hours ago and she has six of my security with her. She'll be back soon." He said growing impatient. I resisted the urge to growl at him. "What happened to Ella?" He demanded.

I ran a hand through my hair and looked down at the ground. How did I explain this to him?

"She didn't like Kat very much." I said finally. I looked up at my husband to watch his expression. He seemed surprised a moment before nodding.

"What did she say?" He asked in a clipped tone.

My eyes started to water as I remembered my daughter's words. "She said she doesn't trust Kat and that she scares her." I recalled quietly. Christian's nostrils flared and his eyes widened fractionally before he reigned in his composure.

"Shit." He growled. I stayed quiet. I hated this. I hated that Christian now felt like he had to choose between his sister and his daughter. Of course I knew he would pick Ella, but I could see that part of him wasn't ready to give up Kat just yet.

"Honey, don't make any rash decisions." I said quietly. "We can still work with Kat without he being involved with the kids." I urged. "I don't want you to regret anything."

Christian glared at me.

"It's too fucking late for that Ana." He spat. "I brought her to our home and made our kids meet her and now I've fucking scared our daughter!" He was nearly shouting and I glared at him.

"Don't swear at me Christian." I said calmly. He looked like he was going to explode. "You cannot blame yourself for how Ella feels." I said trying to reason with him. "I know that you're thinking the only solution is to cut out Kat but be practical Christian. We can't. With Black out there looking for her we can't just turn our backs on her." I continued. "We can keep things separate." I told him.

He stared at me a long moment, his eyes storming with rage and a worry. Without a word he turned around and stalked out of the room, down the house toward his office. I sighed and watched him go. He would do what he would do; I couldn't do anything about it now.

I heard the front door open and Phoebe walked in with a grin on her face. Behind her Frank slipped into the house silently. I smiled at him and he gave me a curt nod before disappearing.

"Hey honey. How was your movie?" I asked trying to sound happier than I felt.

"Hey mom. It was good. Thanks for letting me go." She said wrapping me in a hug. I didn't bother answering. "I'm going to go call Heather and make sure that we don't have a wardrobe clash tomorrow at school." She said kissing my cheek. I smirked at her.

"Okay. Goodnight sweetie." I said kissing her back. She grinned at me before slipping off to her room. I sighed and headed to the kitchen.

My motions were automatic and as I moved around the room baking, my mind wandered to my husband. I couldn't let him slip back into his uptight, overbearing cold personality. We'd both worked too damn hard to let old habits resurface. Especially now. Our family needed us to be strong and united right now.

The front door opened but I couldn't tell if anyone was coming or going. I paused, listening for any indication. Teddy appeared in the kitchen then and smiled gently at me.

"Hey." He said eyeing the bowls laid out in front of me.

"Hi Sweetie. How was your night?" I asked. He ignored my question.

"What are you and dad fighting about?" He asked. I froze, my hand clutching the stirring spoon in a death grip.

"What makes you ask that?" I asked uncertainly. Had Ella heard us fight? Had she somehow managed to tell him?

Teddy motioned to the spoon in my hand. "You usually don't make brownies unless you and dad have had a fight." He said lightly. I looked down at the batter and breathed out. He was right. I was so damn predictable. I looked up at him and shook my head.

"It's not a fight." I said trying to convince myself. Teddy didn't say anything and I shut my eyes trying to block a rogue tear. "Dammit." I whispered feeling tears come on. "Why are you always around when I'm vulnerable?" I asked trying to joke with him. He came around the counter and hugged me.

"Maybe because that's when you need me most." He said softly. I bit back a sob and clutched my son to me. "Whatever dad did, I know he's sorry." Teddy said gently. I pulled away from him, wiping at my eyes.

"How do you know he did anything?" I asked trying to smirk. Teddy rolled his eyes.

"He always does something. That's not to say you don't either, I know you can piss him off like no one else." He said giving me a playful smile. I was so surprised to see him playful, my grief left me and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Your father and I bring out the best and worst in each other. It makes me love him even more." I admitted. Teddy grinned and the sight pulled at my heart. I was going to miss him so much when he left for college. I turned back to my brownies and then glanced back at my son. "Hey your birthday is coming up. What should we do for your big 18th?" I asked spooning the brownies into the cake pans. Teddy moved and settled back in a bar stool shrugging.

"I don't really care." He said watching me. I smiled.

"Would you terribly hate a family party?" I asked knowing that our whole family would want to be part of the celebration. He shook his head.

"That sounds great actually. I don't want to do anything spectacular." He said. I nodded and held out the nearly empty bowl. He grinned at me and took it, licking the spoon, just like he used to do when he was little. I sighed wistfully. Where had my little munchkin gone? I turned around and popped the brownies in the oven before smiling at him.

"Would you like to have the party here?" I asked. He shrugged then nodded.

"Sure." He said around the spoon in his mouth. I rolled my eyes at him and laughed.

"Okay I'll call Grandma Grace tomorrow. She was wondering about a party." I explained. Teddy nodded, still licking the spoon. I poured myself a glass of wine and looked up when Christian appeared in the kitchen. He was looking at me with dark eyes. I held out the wine to him in a peace offering. He glanced at the oven and took a deep breath before stalking toward me and kissing me roughly.

It was the sexiest kiss I had ever received.

I pulled away from him and held his face in my hands, hyper aware of our son sitting at the island watching us.

"You okay?" I asked softly. Christian sighed.

"I'm sorry Ana." He said bending to kiss me again. "I'm sorry. You are right." He said peppering my face with kisses.

"Christian it's okay. I forgive you." I said hugging him tightly. His arms were already wrapped around me.

"Should I give you guys a moment?" Teddy asked dipping the spoon back into the bowl. Christian looked up at him in surprise then looked at me.

"You gave him the bowl?" Christian pouted. I nearly combusted.

"You weren't here." I said trying to even out my voice. Christian smirked at me, knowing exactly what he was doing. I let out a shaky breath and shoved him away from me playfully. I handed him a spoon and he grinned at me, kissing me sweetly before moving around to sit next to Teddy. My son slid the bowl over so it sat between them and I watched as they continued to eat the left over batter. I rolled my eyes at them but smiled, feeling better.

"Mom and I were just talking about a birthday party for me." Teddy informed Christian. My husband smiled at our son.

"Sounds fun. Should we hire strippers? You will be 18 after all." Christian offered. My heart stopped and I stared at him in shock.

"Yeah sounds like fun." Teddy said nonchalantly. It was like they were talking about the weather!

"No strippers!" I growled fiercely. My guys both looked at me and gave me identical, heart melting smiles.

"Only teasing baby. We'll save the strippers for a guys night out." Christian said winking at Teddy. My son laughed and shook his head, spooning more batter. I glared at my husband.

"Not funny." I growled. Christian just smirked.

"So Ted, how did things go with Lilla?" Christian asked looking back at our son. I watched intrigued. I wasn't ever sure how much Christian and Teddy talked, though they both assured me they did. The thing was though; those two could be silent for so long, I wasn't sure what they considered 'talking'.

"We broke up." Ted said frowning at his bowl. My heart broke for my son.

"I'm sorry son." Christian said gently. Teddy shrugged.

"I just couldn't tell her." He said looking up at his dad. Christian nodded.

"I know how that feels." He said quietly. I watched my husband curiously.

"Lilla deserves someone who can give her what she needs. That's not me and while that hurts, it's alright." Teddy said wisely. "It's probably for the best anyway. I'm moving to Massachusetts this summer. She's staying in Seattle. I don't really want a long distance relationship." He said softly. Christian reached around and patted my son's back. I was nearly sobbing at the beautiful moment of tenderness between my husband and my son. We were all quite a moment and when the timer rang letting me know the brownies were done, Christian changed the subject.

"Teddy, what did you think of Katarina?" Christian asked. I looked up sharply and watched as Ted shrugged.

"She was nice enough, but she obviously made Ella uncomfortable." He said frowning. "I don't get that. Ella likes everyone." He said confused. Christian was silent and I bit my lip and shrugged when Teddy looked to me for explanation.

"What did you think though?" Christian pressed. Teddy stared at him a moment.

"I thought she was a little cold. Not the normal mean kind, just the kind of cold you get from living a hard life." Teddy said quietly. "I don't think I liked or disliked her. I'm okay with the idea of getting to know her because she's clearly important to you. You wouldn't have brought her into our lives if she wasn't." Teddy continued.

"Did she seem like someone you could trust?" I asked softly. Teddy looked at me a long moment then shook his head.

"No. Not at all. But really that's not saying much because I don't actually trust that many people." He said eyeing Christian and I. We both nodded. "Is there a reason you're asking?" He asked.

"Just wanted to know." Christian said dismissing the subject. Teddy nodded and I cut into the brownies, sliding them both small plates. "Thanks baby." Christian said smiling at me. I smiled back at him and cut my own brownie.

We spent the next hour sitting and gorging on brownies and talking. I couldn't remember the last time I had heard Teddy talk that much and it thrilled me. We all laughed and joked and it became apparent to me, that even if I didn't always see it, my son and my husband were very very close. That, above everything else made me the happiest.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Monday morning dawned much too early and by the time I made it into the office, I wanted to go back home and crawl into bed. After saying goodnight to Teddy way too late last night, Christian and I had sat up and talked. We'd made no further progress with Kat and the kids nor on the baby front, though to be fair, our conversation only lasted about five minutes before we had been sidetracked.

The thought of a baby made my stomach flip uncomfortably. How safe would it be to have another baby at my age? Sure I knew women did it all the time, but I was sure there were high risks of complications, wasn't there?

"Hannah?" I asked calling her into my office. She appeared in a moment and smiled at me.

"What can I do for you Ana?" She asked, pen poised over her notepad.

"Can you schedule me an appointment with Dr. Green as soon as possible please?" I asked. She frowned.

"You've got your regular appointment with her in two weeks. Sooner than that?" She asked.

"As soon as possible." I said again. Hannah nodded.

"Sure thing, I'll look into it. Anything else?" She asked. I shook my head and smiled at her.

"That's all, thanks Hannah."

She nodded and slipped out of the office and I turned to my overflowing inbox. Time to get to work.

...

Around noon I left the office, deciding I needed a break. Sawyer met up with me in the lobby and accompanied me across the street to the small café I sometimes frequented. It was exceptionally packed today and seeing how exhausted I was, Sawyer insisted I sit while he fetched my lunch.

I was too wiped out to argue with him, so I made my way to a small table in the back of the café.

I plopped down on my seat and put my elbows on the table, running my hands through my hair.

"Mrs. Grey I presume?"

The voice was dark and smooth and made me jump immediately. I looked up and gasped, my body shoving back from the table as far as I could get. Sitting across from me, looking much too caviler, was Damian Black.

I felt nauseous watching him. He looked like Christian, but much more sinister.

"Now now." He tutted at my reaction to him. "There is no need to be so rude. Please Anastasia. I just wish to talk."

My heart was slamming against my chest, so fast I thought I would faint.

"What are you doing here Black?" I hissed angrily. Damian smiled at me and the look made my blood run cold.

"So you know who I am. Good." He said seemingly pleased. "As I said Anastasia, I'm here to speak with you." He said coolly.

"Mrs. Grey." I snapped. He gave me a small smile.

"As you wish Mrs. Grey." He acquiesced. "I considered going to your husband first, but my sources say I'd have more luck going through you." He said chillingly. I struggled to get my breathing under control and my eyes left him long enough to sweep the café looking for Sawyer. "Your security detail is well distracted." He assured me. I looked back at him.

"What do you want?" I asked again. He smiled.

"I just wanted to talk. You see I recently found out that I have a son and having been absent from his life for so long, I wanted to make up for lost time." His voice was low and heartless. It made me incredibly uncomfortable.

"Stay away from him." I growled. He looked at me amused.

"Beauty and bravery. I can see what my son sees in you." The way his eyes and words washed over me made me want to vomit.

"You won't go near him." I growled again. Damian seemed amused.

"I've quite liked Seattle. Such a change from Chicago. I think I'll stick around for a while, see what the city has to offer." He said settling his dark gray eyes on me, wicked and hungry. His meaning was clear and I felt my skin crawl. "I'll see you around Mrs. Grey." He said nodding to me and standing. He was gone before I could blink and I looked around the packed café, my heart racing.

Sawyer appeared at the table with my food, but stiffened when he saw my expression.

"What's wrong Ana?" He asked turning to sweep the area. I stood up on shaking legs.

"We have to leave. Call Frank, get the kids home immediately." I ordered, grabbing my purse. My hands were shaking and I clasped them together to make it less obvious how scared I was. Sawyer was guiding me out of the café and toward the black SUV across the street. He got me into the back seat and went about making phone calls to Frank. I sat in the back seat and pulled out my phone. With shaking hands, I called Christian.

"Christian Grey's phone. This is Mary speaking."

The voice threw me off a moment and I frowned.

"Where's Andrea?" I asked alarmed.

"Andrea is on holiday Miss. I'm filling in for her. May I ask who is calling?" She asked.

"I need to speak to Christian." I insisted.

"I'm sorry Ma'am. He's in a meeting and is not to be disturbed." She said.

"This is Ana." I growled.

"I'm sorry Ana. He was incredibly clear." She insisted. I groaned.

"Mary, take the phone to him this instant or you will be out of a job so fast it'll make your head spin." I felt bad about the threat, but I was shaking.

"Uh, oh, uh," She stuttered. I shut my eyes and noticed Sawyer was heading to Christian's office.

"Never mind Mary." I snapped. I hung up on her and waited the two minutes until we pulled up to the tall glass building. I rushed inside as soon as possible and headed to the elevator, ignoring everyone I passed.

It took forever to get to the top floor. When the doors finally slid open, I rushed out. Sitting at a desk was a small blond girl, Mary I presumed.

"Where is Christian?" I snapped.

"Oh, he's in the conference room. I'm sorry ma'am, he's in a meeting." She called as soon as I headed down the hall. I didn't care if it was the President of the United States in the meeting with him. I needed to see my husband.

I approached the room and threw open the door. A long table of men dressed in smart suits looked up at me and Christian was on his feet as soon as he saw me.

"Ana what's wrong?" He asked rushing around the table toward me. I started shaking, and as soon as he was close enough, I pulled him to me desperately. Christian held me to him and maneuvered us out of the room, away from the prying eyes. "Baby what happened?" He asked me. I couldn't stop shaking.

"Damian Black is here." I whispered. Christian stopped moving. "He found me at lunch and cornered me." I said trying to calm myself down. It wasn't working.

"Did he hurt you?" Christian demanded. I shook my head.

"No, no he just talked. But Christian he's here and he knows about you." Tears burst from me and I wrapped myself around him again. My body shook as I sobbed and he held me tightly to him.

"The kids." He said quietly.

"They're on their way home. I had Frank pull them out of school." I said against his chest.

"Good, let's go." He said stiffly. I looked up at him through my tears and flinched at the fury in his eyes. He guided me back to the elevators, not even bothering to tell the conference room of people he was leaving. Taylor appeared at our side and Christian looked at him. "Black." He said by way of an explanation. Taylor nodded, surprised.

"I'm on it." He said before disappearing. Christian was still wrapped around me and I shook, clinging to him for dear life.

"I'm so sorry Ana." He whispered against my hair as soon as we stepped into the elevator. I shook my head, my body still shaking.

"Honey it's not your fault." I said trying to sound as sure as I felt. My voice waivered too much though and I could see Christian's fury direct on himself.

We were out of the elevator in in the car before I could blink. I didn't bother buckling my seatbelt. Instead I crawled into Christian's lap and clung to him, desperately wishing that every thing would be okay.

...

The kids were at the house when we arrived. I bolted from the car, Christian right on my heels as I burst through the front door and pulled Teddy to me. My son was surprised, but hugged me back as I clung to him. Beyond us, I could see Christian pulling Phoebe and Ella to him at the same time, hugging them tightly.

"Mom what's going?" Teddy asked pulling away from me and rubbing my back gently. I looked at him, my eyes filling with tears.

"Nothing, we're just glad to see you guys." I said trying to fight my tears. They poured down my cheeks regardless of my wishes.

"Daddy?" Phoebe asked looking from him to me and back to him. I swiped at my eyes and Christian looked over at me.

"Kids come sit down." He said softly. He led us all to the sofas and sat down. Instantly Phoebe and Ella curled up into him. Teddy sat next to me and I had to restrain myself from pulling him to me again and weeping. Christian's hands were smoothing out our girl's hair and before I could think better, a flash of jealousy stabbed me. I wanted to be the one curled up in his lap, receiving his loving pets of comfort.

My thoughts brought on fresh tears. God I was a horrible mom!

"Daddy what's going on?" Phoebe asked watching me with wide eyes. Christian sighed and took a deep, measured breath.

"There is a man in town who is not very nice." Christian said after a long silence. "We just want to make sure you guys are safe." He said quietly, hugging our girls tighter.

"Who is he?" Ella asked sweetly.

"It doesn't matter Precious. We won't let him come near any of you." Christian promised. Outwardly he seemed calm, but I could see the storm raging under the surface. I guessed he had about three more minutes of calm left in him before he snapped.

Seeing Christian like that snapped me out of my tears. I sat up, slapping at my eyes and gave my kids a bright smile. They all stared at me in confusion.

"Guys, we just want to make sure you know that there is nothing to be scared about, but we're going to have to be a little extra careful in the coming days." I said trying to make my voice as light as possible. The kids nodded slowly and I grinned standing. "Great, now let's get some homework done hm?" I asked holding my hands out to the girls. They both stood after giving Christian a hug and held my outstretched hands. I smiled at them and looked to my husband who gave me a small smile of thanks before disappearing to his study. I forced my thoughts back to the task at hand and led the girls to the dining room. To my surprise, all three of my kids came in there and sat with me, each working on their own homework. It was like they knew that I needed them together.

Gail came into the room some time later with a plate of hot chocolate chip cookies and glasses of milk and I gave her a small smile in thanks. She patted my shoulder and returned my smile, the message was clear. She was here if I needed anything.

Tears of gratitude burned my eyes and I had to look away from her before I started sobbing.

...

The kids and I sat doing homework together before the girls and I decided to go out to on the patio and paint. It was something I used to do with the kids when they were much younger but we hadn't had much time recently. We had easels set up with big white canvas' propped up, waiting for our paint. Teddy, who had decided not to paint, had gone into the music room to play the piano. He had opened the bay windows though, so even though he was in the house, we could still hear his amazing music outside.

The girls and I dressed in our smocks and Ella and I opted for watercolour, because between the two of us, painting could get dangerously messy and was best if all the paint was water-soluble. Phoebe however, chose to work with oil paints. My daughter was an amazing artist and it seemed she only had the patience to sit still when she was painting or drawing. I loved watching her work, watching her focus and create a masterpiece from nothing.

Ella and I doodled out our paintings in random colours and funny lines, giggling as we covered our pages in randomness. It made my heart a little lighter watching my baby laugh and giggle and act like a nine-year-old child. She so rarely acted her age that it often made it easy for me to forget she was still so young.

"Mommy look." Ella giggled as she slashed a bright blue line across her page. I examined the colours and lines on Ella's page and grinned at her.

"Looks great baby!" I said happily. I slashed at my own page and giggled when the colours started to run together. I looked over at Phoebe's painting. It was a painting she had started a few weeks ago, though I hadn't known the subject of it before now. I stared at the beautiful painting. Even though it wasn't complete, I could still see how stunning it was. It looked almost like a photograph it was so perfect. The subject of her painting made me smile.

Every Christmas, the Grey family got together to do Christmas cards. Christian had objected profusely at first, not wanting to share photographs of our young family with practically strangers, but I had worn him down. Our first Christmas together, we had only had a few cards made, just enough to send to our immediately family members. It was one of my favourite cards that we had, we were so young, I was still only twenty-two and I was just starting to show a baby bump. The photos were beautiful and had made me weep once I saw them.

Every year since then, Christian and I had done Christmas cards. I always kept one in a box from each year, loving to see the progression of our kids growing up, year to year.

Phoebe must have found the box because she was painting that first Christmas card of Christian and me with beautiful accuracy.

"Phoebe that's stunning." I whispered, my eyes watering. She looked at me and gave me a small smile.

"It's for dad. For his birthday." She said quietly. I smiled at her.

"Oh Honey that's beautiful." I whispered. She gave me a small smile before turning back to her work.

We stayed outside painting for a while longer before it started to get dark out. Gail came out to tell us dinner was ready, so the girls and I packed up and went inside. Christian was still missing, and so I quietly slipped away to go tell him dinner was ready.

His study door was closed, which didn't surprise me. I reached it and knocked on it gently, not hearing anything on the other side of the door.

"What?" Christian snapped. I opened the door slowly and poked my head inside. Christian was sitting at his desk, a glass of whiskey in his hand as he stared at the screen of his laptop.

"Hey." I said softly. His gray eyes flickered up to me for a moment before returning to his screen. "Dinner is ready." I offered.

"I'm not eating." Christian said quietly. I stared at him in surprise. The only times I had ever known Christian to skip a meal, was when he was sick. And since he almost never got sick, it meant he almost never skipped dinner.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not wanting to sound as alarmed as I felt.

"Ana I have a lot of work to do." He snapped impatiently. I leaned against the doorframe of his office, trying to think of something to say, before nodding. I didn't want him to see how much his words had stung me, so I quickly ducked my head to hide the sudden tears.

"I'll have Gail bring you some food." I said softly, turning to close the door. Christian didn't respond and I felt my heart squeeze painfully.

I made my way back out to the dining room and sat down with my kids, who were all staring at Christian's chair expectantly.

"Dad's got some more work to do. He said to not wait up for him." I said quickly. The kids all looked at me a long moment before nodding and digging into their food. Gail came in then with a glass of wine for me and I smiled at her. "Thank you Gail. Christian is in his study and has a bit of work to do. I told him to eat there so that he could get it done." I said softly. Gail nodded.

"Of course. I'll bring him some food." She said gently. I smiled at her and turned to my own plate.

I tried to eat, I really did, but my stomach was in such a knot it made it almost impossible to swallow anything. Eventually I settled with just moving things around on my plate and waiting for the kids to finish eating.

The kids finished eating and excused themselves from the table leaving me alone in the big room. I pushed my plate from in front of me and brought my knees up to my chest on the chair.

Worry plagued me and I couldn't help replaying the scene with Damian Black over and over again in my mind. It made me nauseous. What the hell were we going to do about him?

...

I was sprawled out in our bed, the lights out in the room and trying to fall asleep. It was nearly one in the morning and Christian still hadn't come to bed. I couldn't sleep without him there. I needed his presence to reassure me.

Sighing, I flipped onto my side and curled up in a tight ball, willing myself not to cry.

The door to our room opened silently and I looked up from my pillow. Christian came into the room; his head cast downwards as he stripped out of his clothes and went into the bathroom. He was in the bathroom for a few minutes before he came back out and crawled into bed next to me. I waited with baited breath, wishing to god to turn around and cling to him. I wanted to press myself to him as close as possible and just hold him, but I was suddenly afraid of his rejection. In 18 years he had not rejected me once but for some unexplainable reason, I was suddenly afraid he would.

His hand reached out across the bed and snaked around my waist, pulling himself to me. I let out a small breath of relief. He was still here with me, still my Christian.

His big hand felt warm and safe settling on my stomach and his chest was pressed to my back making me feel loved and secure. I shut my eyes trying to block out the tears that wanted to escape. I felt Christian burry his face in my hair and sigh.

"I love you." I whispered. If he was surprised I was awake, he didn't say so. Instead he hugged me tighter.

"I love you too baby."

**So because of personal things going on, I'm cutting back my posting to Sundays. I'm going to try to adhere to this strictly, though next Sunday may be tricky for me as I'm flying back to the US to surprise my family for Thanksgiving. I'm hoping I'll be able to take my laptop, but that's still undetermined. Happy Holidays everyone!**


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Dr. Green's office had not changed in the almost 20 years I had been coming here. Sure some of the staff had moved on while others had come through, but most were the same.

As soon as I entered the office I was seen immediately, gaining me glares from all the women in the waiting room. I hadn't cared about being a VIP patient, but Christian had seen to it that I would be treated as such.

I'd been sitting in the room only about a minute when Dr. Green came in.

"Hello Ana." She said giving me a warm smile. "I thought we had an appointment in two weeks." She said curiously. I nodded.

"We do, I just had a few questions for you." I said settling back in my seat. Dr. Green nodded and sat down. "Christian just started talking about having another baby." I said plunging right into it. "I know I'm nearly 40 and women have babies at my age all the time, but how safe is it?" I asked. Dr. Green stared at me in surprise a moment before shrugging.

"Well, you are really very healthy which would help you if you did decide to have another child. You are right in worrying about it though. Older pregnancies definitely aren't without their risks. Also, judging by how your last pregnancy went, I'd say this would be something that you should seriously think about." She said softly. I thought about how my pregnancy with Ella had gone and blanched. It was possibly the hardest nine months of my life. "If you did decide to have another child, I would recommend a leave of absence from work and I would be quite insistent that you have as little stress as possible. You'd have to take it very easy." She said. I stared at her with wide eyes.

Of course! That was why Christian wanted to have another baby! He knew how weak I was when I was pregnant last time, that added with baby brain meant I never paid attention to anything going on around me. Was he seriously desperate enough to have me stay out of this business with Damian Black that he'd consider having a baby?

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Dr. Green observed. I swallowed and gave her a slight smile.

"Just another little piece of my impossible husband making sense." I said vaguely. She smirked.

"Well if you like we can go over all the risks of pregnancy for you at this age." She offered. I shook my head.

"No thank you, I don't think I'll be needing to know." I said firmly. She nodded.

"Right, then let's get started." She said standing and grabbing my chart.

After my appointment with Dr. Green, I headed straight to Christian's office. It was only eleven in the morning and I honestly didn't care if he was in a meeting. I had a bone to pick with my husband.

Mary was still at the desk so I assumed no one had told Christian about my difficulties with her yesterday. It was just as well I thought, as long as she stayed out of my way.

She looked up at me when I exited the elevator and stared at me with wide eyes.

"Mrs. Grey." She stuttered, standing up and coming around the desk to greet me.

"Is my husband in?" I asked impatiently. She nodded meekly.

"Yes ma'am. He has about twenty minutes before his next meeting. He's in his office now." She squeaked. I nodded and headed for the door.

"Do not let anyone disturb us." I growled. She nodded and darted back to the desk as I stepped into his office.

Christian was at his desk, glaring at his laptop and barking orders on the phone. He looked up when the door opened, ready to yell at the intruder.

His face softened the tiniest bit when he saw me and he abruptly ended his phone call and snapped his laptop shut before standing.

"Ana. Is everything alright?" He asked walking over to me. I glared at him.

"I just had an appointment with Dr. Green." I said coolly.

"Oh?" He asked. He sounded confused and I started pacing the room.

"Christian. I know you are worried about protecting me and wanting to keep me happy and safe, but getting me pregnant so I'd stay out of everything?" I snapped looking up at him. He at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty. "What the hell were you thinking?" I snapped. "We can't just decide to have another kid so that it'll keep me out of your shit!" I screamed. Christian sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ana stop pacing and sit down." He said moving to the low sofas.

"No Christian. I'm not going to stop pacing and I'm not going to stop sitting down. I want to know why you thought this was a good idea? Are our children just pawns to you Christian?" I instantly regretted my words and his face clouded over with rage.

"Don't you dare say that to me." He growled. "You know our children mean the world to me."

I glared at him.

"Then why the hell would you even consider making another one just to distract me?" I asked, feeling hot tears well in my eyes. Christian took a deep controlled breath.

"Has it crossed your mind Anastasia, that I actually want another child?" He asked. His tone was glacial and his eyes were hard as rocks. I resisted my urge to flinch.

"Tell me I'm wrong Christian." I said in the same tone. "Tell me I'm wrong and I'll drop to my knees and apologize and beg you to forgive me."

Christian remained silent and tears hit my eyes again so I spun around and started pacing.

The silence of his office was thick and oppressive.

"I can't do this Christian." I whispered, my voice breaking. "I can't go back to how we used to be." I said looking up at him. "We've come too far together to go back to that. I can't lose you."

Christian stared at me with a look I couldn't decipher.

We were silent a long moment.

Christian sighed and opened his mouth to speak when there was a timid knock on his door.

"What?" He snapped.

"I'm sorry Mr. Grey." Mary said popping her head in. "You weren't answering the intercom. Your meeting is starting in two minutes." She said watching us with wide eyes. Christian nodded dismissing her and stood.

"I have to go Ana." He said quietly. "I'll see you at home." He walked up to me and pressed a small kiss to my forehead before continuing out of his office. He hadn't touched me apart from his lips and I suddenly felt like I was falling apart at the seams. I couldn't remember the last time he had been that cold with me.

I took a moment to gather myself and chase away the tears before leaving his office and heading out of the building, meeting up with Sawyer at the car and heading back to my own office.

When I got to the office Hannah was waiting for me with a large smile. "Good morning Hannah." I said giving her a tired smile.

"Good morning Ana. There was a delivery for you this morning." She said happily. I frowned at her and wandered into my office.

Sitting on my desk was a massive bouquet of roses, their fragrance filling my office. I stared at them with wide eyes and felt my tears start up all over again.

There was a small card nestled in the roses and I pulled it out. Christian had gone above and beyond and I had repaid his kindness by going to his office and screaming at him.

I opened the card and pulled it out smiling.

_Mrs. Grey,_

_It was so lovely to meet you yesterday._

_Here's to hoping for many more wonderful encounters._

_Yours,_

_Damian Black_

The card fell from my hands as if it were diseased. I stared at it in horror and looked up at Hannah whose smile had turned into a frown.

"What's wrong Ana?" She asked.

"Luke!" I screamed, knowing he was just outside my office. He came running in, eyes wide as he scanned the areas. I pointed to the card on the floor and he picked it up. His eyes scanned the page and then he looked up at me sharply.

"Tell Taylor." I said taking a deep breath. "I don't care if Christian knows or not but we need to get this to Taylor. Hannah will you please get rid of these flowers for me?" I asked. She nodded with wide eyes.

"Of course Ana, is everything alright?" She asked grabbing the large bouquet from the desk. She fumbled with the weight of it and Luke stepped over to help her. She gave him a sweet smile before turning back to me.

"It will be." I said firmly.

Thirty minutes later I was in a meeting with two of our editors when the door to my office slammed open and Christian came blazing in. My editors jumped in surprise and stared at me with wide eyes, wondering if they should stick around.

"Why the hell didn't you call me Ana?" Christian roared. I gave my editors apologetic smiles and they nodded, grabbing their things and running from the room. I stood up and glared at Christian.

"What the hell do you think you are doing Christian?" I snapped. "You can't just barge into my office screaming at me!"

"I own this company Ana. I can do what I fucking want." He growled.

"Well I own it too dammit!" I screamed. "Why the hell can't you respect me?" I snapped.

"I can't when you are acting like a petulant child!" He roared.

"How am I acting like a petulant child?" I demanded.

"Why didn't you fucking tell me that asshole sent you flowers?" Christian spat, not answering my question. I glared at him.

"You were busy. I didn't want to disturb you." I said putting as much disdain as I could muster behind my words. Christian's eyes grew dark with fury and he glared at me.

"Why are you being like this?" He demanded. "When have I ever put anything before your safety?" He growled.

"Why are _you _being like this?" I asked instead. I couldn't answer his question because honestly, I couldn't think of a single time where he had put anything before my safety.

"My wife is being threatened by a sadistic crime lord." He said darkly.

"Don't be so dramatic, he hasn't threatened me." I said just to piss him off. Sure Black had never uttered words to make me run for the hills, but his face, his stance had said it all. Predator.

Christian looked fifty shades of furious right now and on instinct I took a step back from him. He'd never laid a violent hand against me, not since our beginning, but that didn't mean that he sometimes didn't want to.

If I had been in my right mind, I would have seen that he was just scared, scared for me and for our family and he was lashing out in fear.

I would have been able to stop and comfort him and tell him everything was going to be alright and that I'd always be right there for him.

I wasn't in my right min though, I was clouded with fury and hurt and fear and it was making it very difficult for me to see things clearly.

Christian's gaze, which was as cold as ice, shifted from my face down my body and back up at an agonizingly slow rate. By the time his eyes settled on mine again I was flushed with lust and craving him more than ever. I hated that he could turn my anger to passion. That one look from him could have me screaming at him for a whole new reason. He knew how to play me too well and he took advantage of that information.

Without saying a word, he stalked towards me, the perfect predator and I shivered involuntarily. He stopped, just out of arms reach and stared at me. I could feel the heat radiating off his body and I could feel my own body screaming to be touching his.

"What am I going to do with you Anastasia?" His words were low and came out as a deep purr. My body betrayed me then and suddenly I was flinging myself at him, wrapping my legs around his waist and clawing at his shirt.

"Fuck me." I growled. Christian's own growl was much more intimidating than mine and he grabbed at me hungrily, shoving all the things on my desk off with one hand. My anger was still running through my body, but now it was turning into thick, sweet lust and I thought I was going to lose my mind if Christian didn't fuck me soon. When I told him that he growled and bit at my shoulder, causing my body to shudder against him. I couldn't think, could only feel and I knew that I needed to feel him.

...

I was sprawled out on the sofa in my office, my body slick with sweat and my breathing heavy. Christian was beside me, in the same position right down to his shit eat grin.

"God I missed you." Christian said curling around and hugging me tightly. I hugged him to me.

"I missed you too." I whispered.

"Baby there is only one reason I even entertaining fighting with you." Christian said gently, smirking at me. I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah I know, me too." I said quietly. Christian smiled against my skin.

"I don't mean to be such an asshole." He said gently. I ran my hands through his sweaty hair.

"I know."

"I just don't want you to be hurt. In any way. I want to keep you safe and happy and warm." He continued. I kept running my hands through his hair.

"Babe, you can't shelter me." I whispered. "I'm an adult, your wife. I worry about you just as much as you do about me." I said gently. "I don't want you to face these demons alone. I never let you in the past, so what makes you think I'll be able to now?" I asked softly. Christian sighed.

"Blind ignorant hope." He whispered.

I didn't know what to say to that so I didn't say anything. Instead I just held him to me as we lay out on my sofa.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys, sorry this is a day late. My birthday was Friday which meant I got no work done over the weekend. Here it is though, I hope you all enjoy!**

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Even after our loud fights and even louder make up sex, Christian and I were still awkward around each other. We were both walking on eggshells around the other, afraid to trip a wire and have something blow up.

I hated it. I hated that I was suddenly uncomfortable around the one person in the world with whom I could find solace.

I missed my husband.

When we left my office that evening, we went straight home, both too preoccupied to continue working. If the kids noticed anything off about us, they didn't say anything for which I was thankful.

We ate dinner as a family and Christian and I even managed to engage in conversation with our kids. We were playing our parts well.

After dinner Christian helped Phoebe with her homework and while I curled up with Ella to read. To the casual observer, it would appear that nothing out of the ordinary was going on in the Grey household.

That evening I crawled into bed thoroughly exhausted. After my emotional whiplash plus the angry sex filled hours in my office with Christian, I was ready to crash.

A beep from my bedside table alerted me to a text and I groaned, flipping on my side to reach for my phone. I read the text, frowned, and read it again to make sure I'd read it right.

_Ana,_

_I'm sorry it's so late. I was wondering if you were free for lunch tomorrow?_

_-Kat_

I stared at my phone for a few minutes before replying, telling her I could meet her tomorrow. We set up a time and place before saying goodnight. I tossed my phone back on my bedside table and stared at it, still confused. She had asked me not to mention anything to Christian because he seemed to be angry at her right now and she didn't want him to be angrier. I tried to understand her logic, but with Christian it never worked that way. Keeping things hidden always pissed him off more.

Still, when my husband came into our room and started getting ready for bed, I couldn't bring myself to tell him.

So instead when he turned off the lights and crawled into bed, I flipped over so that I wasn't facing him. If he could see my face, he'd know something was going on.

Just like the night before, he came up behind me, spooning me and hugging my waist tightly. The silence was thick between us, and when neither of us had anything to say, it grew thicker.

After a long while I wondered silently if Christian had fallen asleep. I was about to sneak out of the bed when Christian's arms squeezed me.

"I love you Ana." He whispered. Christian had never let a night pass where he didn't tell me. It was the last thing he said to me everyday, even when we were fighting or when he was traveling. He'd always be sure to let me know that he loved me.

The sentiment of his words caught up to me and I tried to stay silent as tears leaked from my eyes.

As if he knew they were there, Christian hugged me to him tighter and buried his face in my hair, rubbing his hand over my stomach in small soothing circles.

"I love you too Christian." I whispered into the dark.

My husband's body sagged in relief the tiniest amount before he sighed and kissed my shoulder through my hair. No more was said that night and I silently wondered if this was a conflict we'd be able to get through unscathed.

...

I fidgeted with my hair as I stared at myself in the mirror. I was nervous this morning.

Christian walked into the bathroom behind me and stared at me in the mirror.

"Why are you nervous?" He asked stepping up to the counter and pilling out his shaving cream. I stared at him with wide eyes a moment, before forcing myself to relax.

"Just an important meeting today." I said trying to make my voice sound light. Christian frowned at me.

"Since when do you get nervous at those?" He asked lathering his face. I shrugged.

"All the time."

I had to look away from him so he couldn't see my lie. I was almost certain though he heard it in my voice. I left the bathroom before I could break under his gaze. I wasn't sure why I was keeping my meeting with his sister a secret, maybe I just wanted to avoid another monumental fight.

Slipping on my heels, I made my way to the kitchen where Gail was cooking breakfast.

"Good morning Ana." She said smiling at me. I gave her a pathetic smile.

"Morning Gail." I said taking the tea she offered to me and declining the food. I was too nervous to eat anything.

"The children all left early for school this morning." Gail said when I started looking around for my kids. I looked back at her and nodded.

"Okay very good. I should be heading to work myself." I said glancing at my slim wrist watch. I finished off my tea and thanked Gail before grabbing my purse and making my way to the front door. Christian intercepted me before I could reach it. He was shirtless and wearing only amazing grey dress pants that sat on his hips perfectly. He was watching me with heavy gray eyes and I shifted under his gaze. "I'm headed to work. The kids are at school." I said gripping the strap of my purse tightly. Christian nodded and took a step toward me. I bit my lip in response and his eyes darted to the movement.

"You look beautiful Ana. Have a good day." He whispered looking back up at my eyes. Tears threatened me and I blinked hard to keep them at bay.

"Thank you Christian. You too." I whispered. He stepped forward and took my face in his hands, kissing my lightly. The kiss was so gentle, so sweet that it sparked an inferno in me, a craving for more, for all of him. It was a teasing kiss, though I was sure he hadn't meant it to be.

"I love you Ana." He whispered pulling away from me. I almost sobbed when his hands left my face. I wanted to curl around him and soak in him; his warmth, his smell, his touch. I wanted him all.

"I love you too Christian." I whispered before escaping out the front door.

I had Sawyer drive me to work, feeling too emotional to focus on the roads this morning.

I worked in complete solitude that morning, only allowing Hannah and Sawyer into my office so that I could at least attempt to focus enough to get work done. I made little headway which frustrated me, and before I knew it, I was running late for lunch. I groaned and shot up from my desk, grabbing my purse and rushing out of my office.

"Hannah I'm off to lunch! I'll be in an hour!" I called over my shoulder. She nodded at my departure and I ran through the office to the elevator. I glanced at my watch. I had told Sawyer I'd need to leave at 11:30 so he should be downstairs with the car ready.

I rushed through the lobby and sure enough there was the black SUV, waiting for me. I ran to it and climbed in the back breathing a large sigh of relief.

"I'm so sorry I'm running late Luke. Time got away from me." I said leaning back against the seat and sighing.

"It's so good to see you too Mrs. Grey."

My heart froze and my blood ran cold. My eyes flew open and I hissed when I saw Damian Black sitting in the back seat of the SUV next to me. Immediately I reached for the handle of the door but it was locked. I turned to the drive and realized it wasn't Luke. It was a man I'd never seen before.

"What are you doing Black?" I hissed.

"We're going to have a little chat." He said smiling maliciously at me.

"You're kidnapping me!" I growled.

"Oh my dear Anastasia. It was you who got into my car." He said shaking his head at me. I felt my heart go into overdrive and I reached for my cell phone when I realized I'd left it on my desk. _No, no, no!_ This could not be happening!

"Let me out of this car Damian." I demanded. He smiled at me and pulled from his suit pocket a needle. It was in me so fast I didn't have time to react and I struggled for a moment as I felt the drugs seep into my body.

"Back in my hayday I could have handled a little thing like you. But you see, I'm getting old and frankly, I'm not in the mood to fight with you, especially when I have plans to use my energy for something more, rewarding." He said smiling at me again. I wanted to throw up. My vision was getting blurry and my heart rate had picked up. I struggled to stay awake, stay alert, but I couldn't. My limbs were growing heavy and my breathing slowed. My last conscious thought was of my husband and how no one would know where I was. I was completely alone with this madman.

-Christian-

"I don't fucking care about excuses. I wanted this done two days ago!" I roared over the phone. The pathetic man on the other end babbled his apologies. "If it is not on my desk in one hour you and your team can consider ourselves fired." I snapped, slamming the phone down on my desk.

Another fucking day of fucking useless people.

My intercom beeped and Andrea's voice interrupted my fuming.

"Mr. Grey your son's school is on the line." She said. I stared at the intercom in confusion. Why would they call me? They always called Ana if there was anything going on. I sighed and picked up the phone, not bothering to thank Andrea.

"Hello." I said curtly.

"Mr. Grey, this is Headmaster Clausen. I'm calling about your son Theodore." The old man huffed over the phone.

"What is it? Is he alright?" I asked sitting up straighter.

"Well Mr. Grey, it seems he's been in a fight. We're going to need you and your wife to come down to the school. "

I stared blankly ahead. Teddy? A fight? He wasn't a fighter.

"Yes of course. Have you called my wife?" I asked standing from my desk.

"We've tried to reach her but haven't been successful." He explained. I nodded and pulled out my cell phone texting Taylor that I'd need the car as soon as possible.

"Right I'll head down there right away." I said before hanging up. I strode out of my office barely pausing to tell Andrea I was leaving.

Taylor met me downstairs with the car and I nodded to him in both greeting and thanks as he took off from the curb and headed to Teddy's school.

I called Ana's cell and after ringing several times it went to voicemail. I frowned and hung up, calling her office.

"Good afternoon Grey Publishing, Mrs. Grey's office how may I help you?" Hannah asked.

"Good afternoon Hannah, is Ana there?" I asked trying to stay cordial. I actually quite liked Hannah. She was one of Ana's closest friends and she wasn't annoying or fake.

"Hello Mr. Grey, no she is not in, she went out to lunch." She explained. "She should be back within twenty minutes or so. Should I have her call you?"

"Yes Hannah that would be wonderful. Please tell her that Teddy got into a fight and we're needed at his school." I said ready to hang up.

"Very good sir, I'll pass on the message. Have a good afternoon."

I hung up and sighed. It always worried me when I couldn't get ahold of Ana.

I decided to give Sawyer a call.

"Sir." He answered.

"Sawyer. Where are you and Ana?" I asked. He paused.

"We're at the office." He said slowly. I frowned.

"Is she there with you?" I asked.

"No sir, I got a text from her telling me she decided to stay in for lunch. I can go check on her if you'd like?" He offered.

"Do that." I growled growing anxious.

Sawyer was quite a moment before he spoke. "She's not in here. Hannah said she left almost an hour ago." He whispered. I felt my heart stop.

"Where the hell is she?" I snapped.

"I'll check the rest of security." Sawyer supplied. I nodded noticing we were at the school.

"Call me the instant you know anything." I snarled. I hung up the phone and stormed out of the barely parked car.

Sweeping inside I went straight to the headmaster's office where Teddy was sitting waiting for me.

"Mr. Grey thank you for coming." Headmaster Clausen said standing to shake my hand. I nodded looking at Teddy. "Please have a sit. Will your wife be joining us?" He asked. I shook my head, unable to speak yet. "Very well. As I mentioned on the phone, Theodore got into a fight this afternoon." He said glancing at my son. "Now because this is the first time we've ever had any sort of trouble from Theodore, we're prepared to let this pass without it going on his record. We know that he's planning on attending Harvard next fall and we wouldn't want anything to blemish his otherwise perfect record. However, we are going to insist on his attendance in afterschool tutoring for the remainder of his year." He said looking back at me.

"That sounds reasonable." I said finally, looking over at Teddy. He nodded in agreement.

"Very good Mr. Grey. Thank you for making the trip down. Teddy will be allowed to stay to finish his classes for the day but I want to stress how important it is that today's events are not a repeating occurrence." He said sternly. Teddy nodded.

"Yes sir." He said firmly. Headmaster Clausen nodded and stood reaching over to shake our hands.

"Thank you for your understanding." I said looking once more at my son. The old man nodded.

"He's a good young man, today he just made a bad decision. We've all done that." He said clapping Teddy on the shoulder. We both gave him weak smiles before I led my son from the office. The door shut behind him and I turned to look at him.

"You got into a fight?" I asked.

"Yes sir." He said looking straight at me.

"Was it over a girl?"

He shook his head.

"Defending family?" I asked.

He nodded yes. I nodded in response.

"Okay."

The secretary stared at me wide eyed as if expecting me to say something more. Sighing I turned to him. "Don't do it again." My meaning was clear and Teddy nodded understanding. Don't get caught again.

I understood the need to protect family, and I wasn't above physical violence to do it. I knew my son was like me in more than one way. Who was I to tell him off for doing the exact same thing I would have done?

"Get back to class and keep looking out for your sisters. I'll see you tonight." I said quietly. He nodded and with one last glance at each other, we parted ways. My phone started ringing as I left the school and I looked down at the caller ID.

"Sawyer." I said in greeting.

"Sir we were able to pull up some video footage of Mrs. Grey leaving. She got into a black SUV. We've got plate numbers and we're running them now." He told me. I growled.

"Who the hell was she meeting?" I demanded uselessly.

"She didn't say sir." Sawyer said quietly. I felt a sharp pain in my scalp and realized I was pulling at my hair.

"Find my wife!" I demanded hanging up the phone call. I looked to Taylor who was watching me closely. "Ana is missing."


	12. Chapter 12

**So sorry for the delay. Explanation at the bottom. Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews and birthday wishes!**

CHAPTER TWELVE

-Christian-

I was pacing restlessly across my office, swearing every few seconds and throwing things about. None of it made me feel any better, but I was fuming. How could my security team lose Ana? How was it possible for that many professionally trained men to lose one woman?

No one had seen her in almost three hours and I was beyond panicked. My phone buzzed on my desk and I ran over, snatching it up.

"You better have good fucking news." I growled. A quick glance at my hand showed me that I was shaking. I curled my fingers into a fist and tried to contain the black furry inside me.

"Mr. Grey it's Rhodes. Have you sent another team to pick up the children from school?" Rhodes asked. My heart stopped.

"No, that's your fucking responsibility. Why?" I asked feeling dread well up inside of me.

"According to the school, all three of the children were signed out and taken home two hours ago." He said quietly.

"Where are my children?" I snarled.

"I'll go into the school and see who picked them up, but Sir, it wasn't anyone on my team." He said quietly.

"You find my fucking children now!" I exploded. I barely managed to not throw my phone across the room. I wanted it to shatter, but I desperately needed it. So I picked up a useless paperweight I'd gotten from Elliot years ago and hurled it at the wall. My hands were shaking and I could feel panic creep up on me. My family was missing; this was without a doubt my worst nightmare.

-Ana-

I felt groggy and tired as I tried sloppily to take in my surroundings. I was in a nice room settled on a soft bed with black silk sheets. The room beautifully designed and everything about it screamed money. There were no windows in the room, at least none that I could find and a small camera in the corner of the room alerted me to the fact that I was being watched.

Almost as soon as I had that thought, the door opened and a small woman with long brown hair swept into the room. She gave me a slight head nod and placed a glass of water next to me on the bedside table along with what looked like two advil. She gave me another half nod then scuttled out of the room faster than she'd come in. I stared at the advil in trepidation.

"I would recommend taking those." Black's voice slithered across the room towards me and I looked up to glare at him. "From what I understand, I'm sure you've got a very unpleasant headache right now." He said frowning as if he was actually concerned about me.

"Why am I here Black?" I asked ignoring the pills.

"Mrs. Grey, surely you can be more polite than that. I'm told you are the epitome of grace and class, let's see that shall we?" He asked settling into a big leather chair near the door. I sat up straighter, glaring at him.

"Fine. Mr. Black, why did you kidnap and drug me and what pray tell am I doing here?" My tone held more sarcasm and malice than I'd ever managed before. Black grinned and I was reminded of the Grinch.

"Let's not talk about such heavy matters. Would you please join me for dinner?" He asked standing instead. I glared at him. It was already dinnertime? I'd been out too long. I was sure Christian was worried and had noticed me gone by now. That gave me little hope. Almost nothing stood in the way from Christian Grey on a mission.

"I'm not hungry thank you." I lied. Black smirked as my stomach rumbled.

"I think you are. Come, I have a surprise for you." He said smiling and beckoning me to follow him. I took a long breath and stood from the bed with as much dignity as I could muster before heading through the door. Black tried to lead me by placing a hand on my back and after I turned to punch him, something he narrowly avoided, he kept his hands to himself.

"My my my Mrs. Grey, you are a spirited one." Black chuckled amused. "You would be so fun to break."

I could feel his eyes slide down me and I resisted the urge to throw up. Instead I gave him my best withering glare.

"You will not touch me." I snarled. He smiled in amusement.

"For now." He agreed. I was ready to turn and punch him again when I heard a sound that made me freeze. It was Phoebe yelling at someone. My heart raced into overtime and I burst into the room where I heard her voice. Standing by a long, finely decorated table were my children. Ella was hunched over Teddy who looked to have been knocked out and Phoebe was attacking a man who I assumed had hit him. The man, who was almost three times Phoebe's size, grabbed her easily and something in me snapped.

"Let go of my daughter!" I roared, rushing him. I caught him off guard and managed to knock him down, getting him to release her. I was suddenly thankful of all the lessons in self-defense Christian had insisted on as I tore into the monster that had been hurting my children. Massive paws grabbed me and hauled me off him but I kept kicking and screaming.

"Enough!" Black bellowed. I turned on him in the giant's grasp.

"You fucking hurt my children and I will kill you Black!" I snarled. He sent the man I'd been assaulting out of the room and then ordered the man holding me to let me go.

"I'm terribly sorry Mrs. Grey, I don't know what's come over my men." He said glaring at his security detail. A sound more fierce than I'd ever made came ripping out of me and hurried to my children's side. Phoebe and Ella were staring at me with wide eyes and Teddy, who was just regaining consciousness, was sitting up slowly, a frown etched on his face. I dropped to the floor beside him, my hands fluttering over the new bruise forming under his eye.

"Oh sweetheart are you alright?" I whispered, wanting to gather him in my arms.

"I'm fine mom. What's going on?" He asked quietly. I hugged him tightly and then brought the girls to me as well.

"Mommy." Ella whimpered and I squeezed her too me.

"Hush baby, it's okay. We're going to be okay." I whispered to her. I looked up at Black who was watching us all curiously. "Let my children go." I demanded quietly. He sighed.

"How about we all sit down to eat and you and I can talk about this over drinks." He offered. I shook my head.

"My children are not leaving my sight again. I want you to release them now." I ordered.

"I'm afraid you and your children aren't going anywhere. I want to spend time with my grandchildren." He said giving the kids a smile. They all stared at him shock and I stood up straighter.

"They are not yours in any way." I growled.

"Now now Mrs. Grey, we both know that's not true." He said shaking his head.

"You have no claim over them." I said firmer. "So let them go so we can talk."

"Well I won't be letting them go. Do you really want your children to hear our conversation?" He asked, knowing full well how protective I was of them. I shook my head and glared at him.

"Kids, eat some dinner. I'll be right back." I said letting Ella go. She whimpered and Phoebe wrapped her arms around her. Teddy stood and hugged both the girls. I sent him a look and he nodded, turning the girls to the table as I followed Black into an adjoining room. "Talk Black. What is this all about?" I snapped. He motioned for me to settle into a chair and I sighed, plopping into it as he settled into one across from me.

"I want many things Mrs. Grey, most of all, I want my son." He said curling his hands together in front of him. He looked like a super villain sitting there with his evil glare and his expensive black suit.

"What do you mean?" I asked slowly.

"Christian has done quite well for himself. I'm proud to see that the Black family drive is in him. We're all over achievers." He said smiling to himself. "I want him by my side. I have an empire to run and quite frankly, I'm getting old and more than a little tired of dealing with all the personal things. I want him to rule with me." He said arrogantly. I stared at him in shock.

"You aren't fucking royalty." I snapped impatiently. He smirked at me.

"Aren't I? Do you know just how far my reach stretches? I have more fingers in more pots than anyone. I own Chicago." He gloated. I shook my head.

"You're nothing but a pathetic coward suffering from illusions of grandeur who has built a disgusting power system on abusing people." I snapped. He stared at me in surprise at my outburst, then shrugged.

"Perhaps. Regardless, I know my son could have a lot to offer me and my business. What do you say, shall we give him a call?" He asked pulling my cell phone from his pocket. My breathing accelerated.

"How did you get that?" I asked with wide eyes.

"You left it in your car this morning. It was more than easy to pick up and use for my own purposes. Shall we give your husband a call then?" He asked holding out the phone in front of me. I stared at it in shock. Damian smiled and opened it up. "I must admit Mrs. Grey, if these text messages are anything to go buy, I should be very jealous of my son." He said looking up at me. I blanched. "I can't imagine the kind of fun you two get up to in the bedroom." He said eyeing me hungrily. I glared at him.

"You'll never fucking know." I growled. He smirked.

"We'll see." He said slipping my phone back into his pocket. "I think I'll let him sweat a little longer before calling him." He decided. "Shall we join your children for dinner? They are such lovely young people. Especially little Ella. I was so very pleased to meet her."

My hands started shaking at his words.

"You know Christian's mother's name was Ella. She was a beautiful girl. I did quite enjoy her." He said sighing wistfully. "But I was young when I met her. Too young to save her. Had I had the money I have now then, I would have whisked her away. I would have even tolerated more children from her." He said sadly. I stared at him confused. It was almost as if he was speaking about a woman he had once loved. That couldn't be possible though, I couldn't imagine a heartless monster like Black loving anyone. "I was 18 when I met Ella." He continued. I was surprised to hear this and for a moment he seemed to forget me as he reminisced. "She was the first woman to introduce me to sex. She was a whore of course, and I couldn't honestly afford her, but she liked me. She would spend her nights off with me. I don't think I've ever loved anyone quite like I loved Ella." He said quietly. I just stared at him. He shook his head after a moment and focused on me. "Well no matter. I let her go and she got herself killed, stupid bitch. Now we're here." He said giving me an artificially pleasant smile. I didn't know what to say to that so I didn't say anything. "Come now Mrs. Grey, your children are waiting."

Dinner was strained and awkward at best. Phoebe had set herself on temper watch for her siblings. While Phoebe had inherited my quick temper, her's, like mine, usually flamed out pretty quickly. Teddy and Ella on the other hand, had inherited Christian's. Once either of them started going, they burned the whole forest down and then went snarling for more. Fortunately, it usually took a lot for those two to get upset, but I could see now that this situation with Black had them both on edge, too close to losing it.

Honestly though, I couldn't blame the.

"So Phoebe my dear." Black said looking up at the only grandchild who would speak to him, even if it was just to swear. "Tell me what are your interests?" He asked taking a bite of his salmon. I had to admit that despite myself, the food was incredible and I found myself eating way more of it than I'd like.

"Fuck you." Phoebe snapped. I sent her a weary look. I'd usually never tolerate that sort of language from any of my kids, especially directed at an elder, but I let it slide as it was Black she was speaking to.

Black pursed his lips and gave me a quizzical look. "Really Ana, I thought your children would have better manners." He said shaking his head.

"It's Mrs. Grey." I gritted through my teeth. "And I'm sorry I never taught them how to treat captors."

Black let out a loud laugh at my snide remark and the sound made my skin crawl.

"Well dear, this should be a good lesson for you." He said looking at me in amusement. "Prepare your children for all situations in life." He said smiling at me. I tried to focus on killing him with my glare and didn't respond.

"This is bullshit." Phoebe said throwing her napkin on the table in front of her. "This isn't some stupid game. We'd like to all go home and for you to leave." She said glaring at Black.

"I'm afraid that's not going to happen." He said giving her a small smile.

"Like hell it's not!" She spat. Black glared at her and I felt myself growing defensive as his gaze hardened.

"You can either sit down and eat like a civilized young lady or you can be locked up like an animal. How comfortable your stay is entirely up to you." He threatened. I pulled Phoebe down and into my side as I glared at Black.

"You will not touch my children." I growled again. He gave me a tired shrug.

"So long as they behave." He said nodding. Beside me I could feel Teddy winding up. He'd been growing tenser with each passing moment, and I knew it was now only a matter of seconds before he snapped. I reached out to hold his hand and I'm not sure he even noticed my touch. I sighed and bit my lip as I reached out to my daughters who were both looking at me with large sad eyes. How the hell was I going to stay strong enough for them?

-Christian-

I stared at the bottle of scotch on my desk and felt my eyes tighten in anger. If I didn't have to be alert and ready for anything, I'd be downing that bottle so fast. I was beyond anger, beyond fury even. I was scared and I hated how out of control everything was. My entire fucking family had managed to disappear in the span of a couple of hours.

How the fuck could something like this happen?

I'd already fired most of my security team, but Taylor, knowing I was speaking out of rage, had dismissed my order, something that would usually piss me the hell off. He was right of course. Right now I needed every last man to find my family. I couldn't afford to lose any of them. Of course that didn't mean I had to be nice right now.

"Fuck." I snarled, leaning my elbows on my desk and putting my head in my hands.

There was a knock on my office door and I looked up at it. "What?" I snapped. The door opened and I was surprised to see Katarina standing there. I just glared at her.

"I'm sorry to intrude." She said with wide eyes. "Ana and I were supposed to have lunch today and when she never showed I got a little worried. I tried calling her office but no one would give me a straight answer. Mrs. Taylor let me in and Mr. Taylor told me that Ana and the kids have disappeared. How are you? Is there anything I can do?" She asked coming into my office. I wasn't so sure that was a good idea. I was volatile right now and I wanted to lash out. Walking right into the firing zone seemed suicidal.

I didn't answer her and after a moment she sighed and looked down at her hands.

"It's Black isn't it?" She whispered. I nodded mutely. I had no other clues as to where my family could be. "I'm so sorry for bringing all this with me. I shouldn't have run to you guys." She whispered. I didn't answer again because a very large, very irrational part of me wanted to blame her.

"You want to help?" I asked finally. She nodded eagerly.

"Anything I can do." She whispered.

"Taylor!" I yelled. He appeared at the door and I tried to ignore the look of concern he was giving me. "Katarina please make sure to inform Taylor of everything you know about Black. Do not spare any detail." I said dismissing them. They both nodded and left the room. I looked down at the glass that was sitting in front of me and sighed.

Gripping my hair in my hands I let out a roar of frustration before slumping forward.

Without looking I poured myself a glass of scotch.

The alcohol wafted up to my nose and the scent settled in my brain, promising to help dull the paralyzing fear that threatened me. I reached out and picked up my glass and brought it to my lips, pausing to inhale again.

I started to tip the glass back when my phone started buzzing on my desk.

Pausing, I removed the glass from my lips, and stared at the caller ID in shock. The call was from Ana.

The glass fell from my hands and hit the floor, spilling on the expensive wood floor. I ignored it as I picked up the phone and brought it to my ear.

"Ana? Baby is that you?" I practically yelled. My chest felt tight as I waited for her answer.

"Baby it's me." He sweet voice was music to my ears and I almost let out a sob of relief.

"Oh god baby." I whispered. Even to my own ears my voice sounded weak, tortured. "Where are you? Are you okay? Are you with the kids? Are they okay?" I asked in a rush. Ana sighed.

"Christian I'm okay. The kids are with me. They are okay." She whispered. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too baby. Where are you guys. Was it Black?" I couldn't help but growl his name.

"Yes." She said quietly, and somewhere behind her there was a low voice.

"Is he there now?" I yelled. She paused a moment before answering.

"Yes."

"What does he want, tell him he can have fucking anything. I just want you all back here safe and I want him out of our lives." I snapped.

"Christian." Her voice broke over my name and the sound stabbed my heart painfully. "Baby I can't give him what he wants." She said quietly. For a split second my mind went to the darkest places possible and I shivered in disgust. No. I couldn't go there.

"What is it?" I asked cautiously. Ana let out a small sob and the sound just about destroyed me.

"You baby. He wants you."

* * *

**Again sorry for the one day delay. I have a valid excuse I swear! I had to travel down to Oslo this weekend to take a test I haven't taken since high school. It was all very annoying and stressful, though Oslo this time of year is perfect. Anyway, with the holidays coming up, updating may slow down just a little bit as I have to prep a LOT as well as get my things together to apply for school in the new year. Anyway, I basically have tons going on right now and though I'm still going to post, it just may not be as consistent. I hopt I'm wrong though.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

-Ana-

"What is it?" Christian whispered. I couldn't help the small sob that escaped me as I tried to keep myself from falling apart.

"You baby. He wants you." I whispered. Black raised an eyebrow at me and snatched the phone from my hand. Before I could protest he hung up the call and shut the phone off.

"I think that's enough for now." He said giving me a cool glare. I returned his look, trying to gather myself together. I hated that he had seen me cry. Even just a little bit. "Will you please take Mrs. Grey back to her room?" He asked motioning to the massive guard behind me. The huge man leered at me and I felt my fingers curl into a fist. "Oh and please refrain from riling her up. The calmer she stays the easier she will be to deal with." Black said dismissively. I lunged at him, ready to claw his eyes out and the giant's meaty hands wrapped around me. Though I knew he was holding me back from attacking his boss, it didn't stop him from taking advantage of the situation and feeling me up. I turned on him and tried to kick him. He avoided my attempts but glared at me.

"Don't you fucking touch me!" I snarled. Black sighed.

"Put her down Merriman. And remember, hands off." He said darkly. The meathead set me down but kept me at arms distance, giving his boss a silent nod. I turned to look at Black once more before storming out of the room. Meathead followed behind me, making sure I headed in the right direction.

"I want to see my children." I demanded. The meathead ignored me and I turned to glare at him.

"Tell Black I want to see my children." I said again. He just gave me an impassive stare. I turned on my heel and headed in the direction of the dining room when the meathead grabbed me and redirected me to my room.

I never even stood a chance. He was so much taller than me, and so much stronger. He picked me up and carried me easily, despite my constant struggling. He deposited me into my room, and with one last leer, left me alone in the room. I started pacing around, running a hand through my hair and feeling anxious. I needed to know my children were safe, then I could focus on how to keep Christian from Black.

Turning to the room, I started looking for some route of escape. I surveyed the room in great detail, checking under the floorboards, (which led to concrete) and even behind all the furniture. There was nothing.

I stood up from where I had been crawling under the bed and growled in frustration.

The door opened, startling me, and a petite woman with silver streaked brown hair came into the room. She was dressed in a professional and expensive looking skirt and silk top with classic black heels to finish it off. Her hair was perfectly coifed and she gave me a steady look as she came in. She reeked of power and wealth and immediately I knew who she had to be.

"Mrs. Black I am to presume?" I asked standing. She gave me a small tight smile.

"It's good to meet you Mrs. Grey." She said nodding to me. I tried to discretely compose myself as she studied me. She was only slightly taller than me, but that could have been the heel height. She looked to be the same build as me and we even had similar bone structures. I stared back at her, wondering how a woman could stand by and let all this happen around her.

"I imagine you're wondering how I fit into all this." She said coming into the room and settling next to the small table in the room. She motioned for me to join her and I moved over reluctantly, to sit across from her. This seemed to appease her and she nodded.

"Olivia." She called. The door opened and the meek woman who had brought me advil earlier came running in with a tray of tea. She set it on the table and offered to serve us. When Mrs. Black waved her off, the girl ran from the room. "My name is Suzan, but please call me Suzy if you are comfortable with that." She said setting up the teacups so she could serve us.

"What is going on here?" I asked, trying to skip the formalities and games she and her husband both seemed to be so fond of. She gave me a small smile.

"I'm going to be honest with you Ana." She said glancing at me. I bristled a moment but waited for her to continue. "I don't care about you." She said looking up at me. "I don't care about you or about those children out there. I don't care about your husband and I certainly don't care if you all make it out of this alive." She said lightly. "I have one goal and one only. If you can help me achieve that, then I will help you and your family walk away from all of this." She said sliding a cup toward me. Black and weak, just like I liked it. I stared at the cup a moment and tried to compose myself. I had not been ready to hear that.

"What is it you want?" I asked finally. She gave me another small smile.

"It's quite simple Ana. I'm tired, I'm old and I've lost too much. I want it to stop. I want all of it to stop." She said bringing her own teacup to her lips.

"And how is that I can help you with that?" I asked confused. She smiled again.

"First I think I need to explain my relationship with my husband." She said setting her cup down. "I hope you have an open mind about things, or this conversation is going to be incredibly difficult for you." She said staring me dead on. I took a shuddering breath and nodded.

"Tell me."

She studied a moment then nodded. "I'm assuming that your openness and understanding about sex extends beyond the closed doors of your bedroom." She said looking at me. I choked on my tea. "Yes I've read the text messages my husband found in your phone. I'm not surprised to be honest. Your husband is after all, the offspring of mine." She said shrugging lightly. I shifted in my seat and she continued. "I was fourteen the first time I met Damian." She said, much to my surprise. "He worked for my father. He was our gardener." She said smiling to herself. "We didn't start dating until I was sixteen. He was just nineteen at the time and of course, everything was in secret. I come from old money, very old money and my father would have hated the relationship if he knew about it." She said shrugging. "That's probably what attracted me to Damian. I knew he wasn't allowed." She chuckled and took another delicate sip of her tea. "It was the night of my eighteenth birthday when we eloped. The trust fund my father had set up for me became available on my birthday and so Damian and I ran off, away from Detroit and headed to Chicago." She explained. "It wasn't long after we were married that I got the call from child services." She said setting her cup down to look at me. "They told me my husband had a child that was suddenly without a mother." The look in her eyes was cold and her words chilled me to the bone. "I told them we wanted nothing to do with it, I even forged his signatures on the paperwork just to make it go away as quickly and quietly as possible. Damian never found out." She said carefully. "For a while everything was wonderful. We lived off my trust fund and were quite comfortable. But soon the money started to run out and neither one of us liked it. I'd grown up in the lap of luxury. I needed money to be happy. Damian, who had grown up with out it, was consumed by the taste he'd gotten. Suddenly what we had wasn't enough for either of us. That's when everything changed." She gave me a steady look and when I nodded to her, she continued. "It was all too easy to fall into the wrong crowd, especially with the personalities and sexual dispositions my husband and I have." She said giving me a small smile.

"What do you mean?" I asked. I was surprised to hear my voice was much steadier than I would have expected.

"I mean that my husband liked to beat me and I begged him to." She said simply. "That is until I got pregnant. I had no idea that what we were doing could be harmful to the fetus, but we found out the hard way and I miscarried." She said rolling her shoulders back. "After that we decided on a different course of action. Damian would find pretty little brunettes and beat them and I'd watch." Her tone held no remorse, nothing but the straightforwardness that came from stating facts. It chilled me to the bone. "We were quite happy with that arrangement and the people we fell in with were more than happy to supply us with as many girls as we needed. It worked wonderfully for years." She said smiling softly.

I felt the need to ask, though I knew I didn't want to know the answer. "What changed?" I asked. Suzan shrugged and looked down at her lap.

"I had a baby girl." She said quietly. "Suddenly the world we lived in didn't seem so wonderful. I didn't want to raise a little girl in that environment." Her tone finally held some notes of remorse and I could feel a chill run through me. I didn't like where this was going. "By then Damian was practically running Chicago. He'd worked his way to the top and he worked damn hard to stay there. There wasn't a single thing I could have said to him to convince him to step away from it all." She said pouring us more tea. I couldn't recall drinking any yet my cup was empty. "So I decided to keep Chelsea at arm's length. I sent her to boarding schools around the world, kept her up with the finest things in life." She said frowning. "About three years ago, she came home from school. She was seventeen, about to be eighteen and she came home at the worst possible moment. It was to surprise Damian and me. We'd never encourage surprises before. In fact, we'd always made certain to make sure she kept us informed of her schedule. We couldn't chance her running into anything." She shrugged lightly and looked down at her heavily jeweled ring finger on her left hand. The massive diamond glittered and shone proudly on her finger and she twisted it around a moment before curling her hands. "She didn't walk into anything sexual, thank god. It was a deal that had gone south. Damian was dealing with some new thug who thought he could get away with setting his own rules. They were meeting when Chelsea got home. No one knew she was there and when the gun shot fired at the door from one of the thug's men, no one thought she'd be behind it." Her words were quiet, and there was so much emotion laced in them it was difficult to listen. I felt my stomach convulse at the thought of losing a child like that. No, no I couldn't think about it. "Ever since I had to bury my seventeen year old daughter, I've had enough. Damian won't stop what he's doing, not on his own. He's too stubborn and proud to step down. I need your help to take him out. Your husband has enough power to make that happen." She said giving me a pointed look. I felt my head start to spin.

"You want me to tell my husband to have your husband killed?" I asked slowly. She sighed.

"I'd prefer if Damian stayed alive. I do love him very much and I'd like to grow even older with him. But I'm prepared to lose him if that should be the case." She confirmed with a nod. I just stared at her in shock.

"Why can't you do it?" I asked finally. She sighed.

"There are certain, obstacles, preventing me from doing it myself." She said cryptically. I glared at her. "That though, is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what I'm offering in return."

Her words caught my interest, though I hated that they did. "And what is that?" I asked looking at her evenly. She gave me a small smile.

"I will guarantee the safety of your children and even give you an opportunity to pick up where Damian and I have left off in the business should you like." I shook my head vehemently and she nodded. "I thought as much. Very well, then I will help you bury it. In essence Ana, I can make this all go away and never come back." She said quietly. I stared at her and let her words roll around in my head.

"And what about Christian?" I asked finally. Suzan gave me a small tight smile.

"It may be too late for dear Christian Ana, but I'll see what I can do."

Her words frightened me. What did she know that I didn't? What was Christian doing? My mind raced to the darkest corners it could come up with and I shivered. No. Christian wouldn't sink to Black's level. Would he?

-Teddy-

"I'm scared." Ella whimpered into my side. I hugged her tighter and felt her cling to my shirt.

"We're going to be okay." I said softly. I'd been saying the same thing since we got here and now the words were starting to sound broken even to my ears.

"You keep saying that." Phoebe pointed out. I looked over at her and shrugged lightly.

"Because it's true." I said. She bit her lip and looked away from me. She looked like mom when she did that, especially lately.

"What if mommy or daddy are hurt?" Ella asked. I turned my attention down to her and gave her a small smile.

"Mom and dad are really tough people. I'm sure they're fine." I said trying to comfort her as much as I could when I myself was just as worried and scared. We'd been here too long, and we hadn't seen mom in almost six hours, which stressed me out the most. Knowing she was here, but not being able to make sure she was okay? Torture.

At least I had been placed in a room with the girls. I would have been out of my fucking mind if I'd been isolated.

"I wish we could see her." Ella continued. I nodded and brought her even closer to me. Phoebe, who had been pacing, sighed and flopped on the low sofa next to us.

We sat in silence until Ella eventually drifted to sleep. I picked her up and carried her over to the king sized bed, sliding her in carefully before kissing her forehead and returning to sit next to Phoebe. My sister looked at me and her big gray eyes looked petrified. The look pierced my heart and I had to clench my fists not to get up and start tearing into anyone who made her look that scared.

"I'm scared for daddy." She whispered. "What if he doesn't know where we are? You know how he gets when we're late home from school." She whispered, drawing her knees to her chest.

"I know." I said quietly. I didn't have words to comfort my sister and I hated that. She rested her head on her knees and I could see tears form in her eyes. I wound an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into me.

What did Black want?

From what I'd been able to gather from conversations he had had in front or near us, he wanted my dad to come into the family business so to speak. If he wanted dad, then he'd probably want one of us as well, just to keep the legacy running. I looked at my two little sisters and shook my head. I wouldn't let that sort of world touch them. I didn't know exactly what it was that Black did, but I knew that it wasn't legal and wasn't good.

I couldn't let my little sisters get mixed up in that. I knew what I had to do and that helped focus me, give direction.

"Teddy." Phoebe whispered, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?" I asked.

"Promise me something."

I looked down at her curiously. "What?"

She looked at me and bit her lip before continuing. "Promise me you won't sacrifice yourself in anyway for us. We need you." She whispered. It was as if she'd been able to read my thoughts. My heart contracted painfully and I had to look away from her big gray eyes.

"I'm going to do what I need to to keep you two safe." I said slowly. Phoebe shook her head.

"We'd both rather have you around than be completely safe." She whispered against my shoulder. I didn't respond. How could I? I had to keep my sisters safe and I would pay whatever price to do so.

Eventually Phoebe fell asleep and I picked her up, carrying her to the other side of the bed and sliding her in. When both the girls were tucked in, I stood up and strode across the room to the door. I knocked twice and a slot opened up at eye level. One of the guards stared at me in annoyance.

"I want to speak to Black. Tell him I want to make a deal."

-Christian-

"I've learned a lot about Black while I've been running from him." Katarina said looking at me across the dining table. We'd sat down to eat after I'd calmed down enough from the phone call with Ana to stop breaking things. Katarina had suggested food and I honestly didn't want to fucking eat anything, but I knew I had to keep up my strength, so I complied.

"Like?" I prompted impatiently.

"Like his enemies and his weaknesses." She said arching a brow at me.

"Why haven't you brought this up before?" I snapped.

"Because we weren't playing offense then. We were observing. I didn't want to tempt you to jump into a storm that might have passed you by." She said giving me a pointed look. I sat back and didn't say anything. She was right. I would have done that.

"What have you got?" I asked. Katarina nodded and wiped her mouth with a napkin before speaking.

"Black is losing power. Newer, younger gangs are rising up and they are over powering him. This is his last ditch attempt at regaining power. No one would dare go up against him if he had you on his team." She explained. I grit my teeth but nodded. "I think we need to appeal to his competition. Use them to take him out." She said quietly.

"What about my family?" I asked immediately. Katarina smiled.

"Black won't hurt them as long as he thinks you'll play along." She said. I frowned.

"So you want me to double play the biggest and most powerful crime lords in Chicago?" I asked her. She shrugged.

"I think it's the only way to get your family back." She said slowly. I thought it over a moment before nodding.

"You're probably right. Okay who is it that we'll be reaching out to?" I asked. Katarina produced a small black book from her coat pocket.

"The most prominent threat to Black right now is Davis Clark. He's been a steady threat to Black for some time, but he either has something of Black's or has damn good security because Black hasn't even attempted a move on him." She said flipping through the pages. "We'll start with him."

I nodded. "Can you arrange this?" I asked. She nodded.

"I'll have him on a plane to Seattle by morning." She promised.

This was a side of Katarina I'd not yet seen. While she was always driven and focused, now she appeared to be thrilled at the idea of juggling with knives. I recognized it as the attitude of a thrill seeker, which is something I never would have thought she was. As I watched her pull out her phone and pick up her book to make a call, a small sinking warning told me to look be careful of that behavior. Too often I'd seen it escalate out of hand and turn into a detriment. I really hoped that this wouldn't be the case for us.

**I'm so sorry this is so delayed. It's been madness in the house trying to prepare for Christmas. Here it is for all you lovelies, though I'm not sure too many of you are going to like where this leaves off. I hope I'll be able to post soon!**


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